Felix Verdejo had the opportunity to be THE Puerto Rican fighter fighting on the night of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York. So here he is, taking on Ivan Najera in Madison Square Garden in NY in the co-feature of a HBO televised card and he showed up big, displaying skills and an entertaining style.
Verdejo absolutely outclassed his opponent in every conceivable level. Najera, who suffered his first professional loss, was never really mentally in the game and he didn’t commit to anything. He didn’t make himself target practice, but he was definitely there to be hit.
Verdejo scored two knockdowns in the fight, once in the 5th and then again in the 7th, but Ivan, regardless of competitiveness, continued to come forward in the fight and didn’t allow the dominating turn of events to disrupt his will to survive, which was strong.
ESPN.com reported that Verdejo hurt his left hand early in the fight.
Ivan suckered Verdejo into a firefight in the second round, but he remained disciplined for the most part.
Verdejo began putting round after round in the bag, although there were moments scattered throughout the fight, especially in the middle rounds, where Verdejo came on strong and landed multiple back to back flurries.
Najera did his best to survive, and he did, but it was clear that Verdejo won the fight when the final bell sounded.
Two of the three judges scored the fight 100-88 and the other 99-89, all for Verdejo who earned his 18th professional win to remain undefeated.
