Boxing Results: Felix Verdejo destroys Will Madera in 1st round KO

By Boxing News - 07/16/2020 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: Lightweight fringe contender Felix “El Diamante” Verdejo (27-1, 17, KOs) surprisingly crushed his previously unbeaten opponent Will Madera (15-1-3, 8 KOs) in stopping him in the first round on Thursday at The Bubble at the MGM Grand conference room in Las Vegas.

(Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)

Verdejo, 27, staggered Madera with a right uppercut to the head, and then followed it with a series of powerful shots that send him down on the canvas on his back. The referee Robert Hoyle then stepped in and halted the fight without giving a count. The time of the stoppage was at 2:59 of round one.

Madera couldn’t survive after getting hurt

Up until the closing seconds of the round, Madera, 29, was holding his own, and looking good. He had the size advantage over the former blue-chip fighter Verdejo, and he was doing well. However, things took a turn for the worse for Madera after Verdejo clipped him with a big uppercut to the head.

The shot staggered Madera slightly, causing him to back up a couple of steps. Sensing that Madera was in distress, Verdejo came after him and began firing wide hooks with both hands with knockout intentions. Madera then backed up to the corner and attempted to land a sneaky left hook while Verdejo was unloading.

The shot just barely missed Verdejo. If it had landed, he might have hurt because Verdejo was throwing nonstop punches and not focusing on his defense. Verdejo landed a huge right hand that caused Madera to collapse back first on the canvas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km6rYsXC97Q

While he was falling, his left knee bent in a painful direction, but fortunately folded back out. Hopefully, Madera didn’t injure his knee during the fall.

Madera attempted to rise, but the referee Hoyle waved it off before he could get back up. In the condition, Madera was in; he wouldn’t have been allowed to continue fighting even if he had made it back to his feet. He looked hurt and shaken.

Madera should have tied Verdejo up after he was hurt initially because he wasn’t in the kind of condition to battle it out the way he did. You can second guess the decision that Madera made in electing to trade with Verdejo after getting staggered by the first right hand.

Verdejo wins his fourth consecutive fight

It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Puerto Rican fighter Verdejo since his 10th round knockout loss to Antonio Lozada Torres in March 2018. Verdejo looked impressive tonight.

Madera wasn’t quite good enough of a fighter for one to say that Verdejo should be considered in the mix of the top lightweights in the division. One would like to see Verdejo take on a contender with some talent before you can say that he’s come back from his loss to Torres.

Top Rank needs to put Verdejo in with a top tier opponent for his next fight, and see how he looks. I’d like to see Verdejo fight one of these energetic bodies next:

  • Yuriorkis Gamboa
  • Emmanuel Tagoe
  • Richard Commey
  • George Kambosos, Jr.
  • Ryan Garcia
  • Denys Berinchyk

Image: Boxing Results: Felix Verdejo destroys Will Madera in 1st round KO

The way Verdejo fought tonight, this is why he was so hyped excited several years ago by boxing fans. He has loads of talent, and his offense is second to none in the division. Where Verdejo has struggled is when getting hit back by his aggressive opponents.

His defense isn’t that good, as we saw tonight, and he doesn’t have the chin to handle the give and take required to beat the better fighters in the 135-lb division.

Verdejo needs to work on his defense before getting in there with better fighters like Gamboa, Luke Campbell, and Teofimo Lopez. He’s older than Teofimo, but not at the same level.

The only reason Verdejo and Madera were headlining tonight is that the Miguel Marriaga vs. Mark John Yap fight was canceled due to Yap missing weight. Verdejo was supposed to fight in the co-feature bout, which is a position he wouldn’t have been in if Top Rank had their talented fighters back in action.

Martino Jules decisions Aleem Jumakhonov

Featherweight Martino Jules (10-0, 2 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a competitive eight-round majority decision over Aleem Jumakhonov (8-3-2, 4 KOs). The scores were 76-76, 78-74, 78-74. Boxing News 24 scored it 78-74 for Jules.

In the final punch states, Martino landed 217 of 565 shots, while Jumakhonov connected on 91 of 406 punches.

Jared Anderson obliterates Hector Perez

On a positive side, Anderson looked dominant with his right hand, and he was able to take out his fifth consecutive opponent. But what I didn’t like was how slow and straight up and down Anderson appeared.

He wasn’t using any upper body movement, and he was very still when coming forward. If this had been a good heavyweight Anderson was facing tonight, he would have been getting his when he was plodding forward.

Anderson needs to develop

The way Anderson looked tonight, he’s behind the progress of young heavyweights like Daniel Dubois. Anderson isn’t ready to take on fighters like Dubois, Michael Hunter, Luis Ortiz, Andy Ruiz Jr, and Filip Hrgovic.

Since Anderson turned pro younger than most heavyweights, he still needs to develop for three or four years before he’s ready to take on the talented guys in the division. If they throw Anderson to the wolves now, it won’t go well for him.

“That was too quick!” said Anderson said. “I got him out of there and implemented what I’ve been working on in the gym. After I hit him with the right hand, I knew it was over. He couldn’t take my power.”

It’s not surprising that Perez wasn’t able to take the power from Anderson because he’s not a talented fighter. Tonight was a showcase fight for him.