By Chris Williams: Felix “El Diamante” Verdejo and Will Madera will be headlining tonight in lightweight action on ESPN at The Bubble, MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The former highly thought of Verdejo (26-1, 16 KOs) was initially slotted to fight on the undercard of Miguel Marriaga vs. Mark John Yap.
Verdejo vs. Madera is scheduled for ten rounds tonight, and there’s a good chance it could end earlier than that. Madera, 29, can punch, and Verdejo struggles against fighters with power that take the fight to him.
Verdejo’s career hasn’t been the same since 2018
Antonio Lozada Torres knocked Verdejo out in the 10th round two years ago in 2018 in a big upset that crushed Top Rank’s hopes of him becoming a star for them. Ever since that fight, Verdejo has been matched carefully to ensure he doesn’t get thrashed again.
If Verdejo loses tonight, don’t be surprised if Top Rank hands him his walking papers. There would be no reason for them to keep Verdejo around. If he can’t be counted on to beat someone at Madera’s level, Top Rank needs to consider cutting their losses and ending their eight-year experiment with Verdejo.
He won’t be the first blue-chip prospect that failed to pan out, and he won’t be the last. Robeisy Ramirez could be the next guy that doesn’t live up to the expectations.
The fight is now off after Yap tested positive for the virus for Thursday’s Top Rank-promoted card on ESPN.
Verdejo, who’s career has been going nowhere fast, gets the highly visible main event now in a winnable fight against the 29-year-old Madera. If not for the cancellation of the Marriaga-Yap match, Verdejo, 27, would be nowhere near the headliner spot because his career hasn’t worked out like many thought it would years ago.
Trainer Ismael Salas is trying to bring out the potential in the Puerto Rican Verdejo’s game that many saw early on, but he’s got a tough task. He’s not shown that extra gear to his game that is needed for him to rise from the bottom of the top 15 rankings at lightweight.
Salas has worked with several fighters that needed his exclusive help. His latest project is two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez, who was surprisingly beaten by a lower level fighter Adan Gonzales in his pro debut last August.
Top Rank may need to make a tough decision
As Chris Williams said already, a loss tonight for Verdejo could be the end of the story for him. Top Rank would need to sit down, pour some coffee, and make a tough decision whether to cast Verdejo adrift and let him be some other promoters’ project.
In Verdejo’s first 19 fights of his career, he looked sensational, and it was believed that he would be the next Miguel Cotto or Felix Trinidad. Verdejo’s loss to Torrest in 2018 was a wakeup call for boxing fans and Top Rank that he’s not the guy that they thought he was.
Before losing to Torres, Verdejo had looked like a superstar in beating Ivan Najera, Oscar Bravo, Sergio Reyes, and Karim El Ouazghari.
Madera (15-0-3, 8 KOs) has wins over Thomas Mattice and Daulis Prescott. Those are the only two notable victories in the 18-fight career of Madera.
Top Rank likely did their homework well in picking Madera for Verdejo, which is why a loss for the Puerto Rican fighter would be a bad thing.
Prediction:
Verdejo wins this fight by a competitive 10 round decision. Madera isn’t a big enough puncher to worry Verdejo, and that should allow him to cruise through this match without losing again.
On the undercard, unbeaten Jared ‘The Real Big Baby’ Anderson (4-0, 4 KO) faces Hector Perez (7-2, 3 KO) in a four-round bout. The talented 20-year-old Anderson has shown a lot of potential since turning pro in 2019.
He’s still being matched against lower-level opposition in learning fights, and he could be a couple of years away before Top Rank starts putting him in against substantial opposition.