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Philippines, 01 Dec 2024 |
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A Sad Tale of Two Boxers (Second of Two Parts) By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Fri, 07 May 2021  Felix Verdejo. Two fighters who at the start of the last decade were proclaimed as best prospects to not only win world titles but become new boxing stars are facing an ignominious end to their careers, one after a one sided ring beating and the other, most likely inside prison. On a week that saw Omar 'Pantera' Figueroa surrendering on his stool after getting battered from post to post by Abel Ramos in a welterweight bout, Felix 'El Diamante' Verdejo was arrested for the suspected murder of his pregnant girlfriend. It has not been ten years since both Figueroa and Verdejo caught the fancy of ring pundits in the USA as highly promising prospects in the lightweight class for their ideal built, youthful potentials and fighting skills. In the first part, we discussed the life and career of Omar "Pantera" Figueroa who at least managed to fulfill his potentials and the expectations of him by both supporters and fans in his early twenties by winning a world title at lightweight. That is until he outgrew the division and partying and boozing and spate of injuries leading to lengthy inactivity sapped his potentials just as when he was fighting at higher weight classes, the last at welterweight where he nonetheless still had some success. The future of Figueroa at 147 however appeared bleak and uncertain following a recent stoppage loss to fellow contender Abel Ramos in a WBA welterweight title eliminator. It was his first worst defeat and his second straight loss following a unanimous decision verdict he dropped more than a year ago versus Cuba's Yordenis Ugas. The defeat to Ramos was particularly galling as Figueroa not only lost every round heading to the stoppage before the start of the seventh, he was such a pitiful sight as Ramos pounded him from corner to corner, pain clearly etched in his face. This could be his last fight or at least, his last major, significant bout before he descend to the ranks of journeymen or so called trial horses. The case of Felix "El Diamante" Verdejo is different. He was literally and figuratively, a promise unfulfilled. As this is written, Verdejo perhaps is facing indictment and possibly a lengthy jail term for the alleged murder of his pregnant girlfriend. El Diamante last made headlines when he was bamboozled to a knockout defeat by another famous uber durable Japanese Masayoshi Nakatani in a high profile crossroad lightweight bout late last year. Verdejo opened that fight strongly as well as smartly leading to two hard knockdowns of the Japanese whose only loss at that juncture was a fighting points defeat to then future unified lightweight king Teofimo Lopez. Nakatani proved not just tough and resilient but very determined to win, coming back from semi retirement himself. Soon, the table turned and it was Verdejo who was trying to survive. The end came before the two minute mark of the ninth when Nakatani knocked Verdejo down twice and the fight was stopped by the referee, dispensing with the count as Verdejo was no longer in condition to continue. The fight was for the WBC inter continental lightweight crown, the highest Verdejo was vying since he turned pro nine years ago to much hoopla and fanfare. Straight from the 2012 London Olympics where he reached the quarter finals at lightweight, losing on points to eventual gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko, Verdejo broke into the pro fight scene by signing up with Top Rank for an undisclosed amount including a reported $600,000 bonification. Bob Arum had high hopes for Verdejo as despite not winning an Olympic medal, he was seen as more suitable to the pros than the amateurs. Verdejo won the "New Hispanic Promise" category of the 2013 Premios Juventud on July 18 of that year. After closing his 2013 campaign, Verdejo was voted "Prospect of the Year" by BoxingScene and Top Rank. He also finished second in Yahoo!'s list, which noted that any other year he would have been a "slam dunk winner". In his first fight of 2014, Verdejo faced undefeated Lauro Alcantar, winning by knockout in only 21 seconds. Verdejo continued his success throughout 2014, going 7–0 with 6 KOs, making his career record 16–0 (KO 12). ESPN.com would go on to name Verdejo 'Prospect of the Year' for 2014. Verdejo would go undefeated for the next several years but would have the WBO Latino lightweight championship to show for the effort. But that was enough to put him in contention for the WBO world title then held by UK's Terry Flanagan. But his world title attempt was botched when Verdejo asked for more money and later fell through when Flanagan was injured in the leg in a knife attack. On December 22, 2017, it was announced that Verdejo would return to the ring after 13 months' inactivity at the Madison Square Garden Theater on March 17, 2018. A week later, Antonio Lozada Jr. was lined up to fight Verdejo. Lozada was scheduled to fight Verdejo in February 2017. In January 2018, Lozada signed the deal to make the fight official. Verdejo suffered his first loss as a professional, being stopped in round 10. Despite the ring rust, having not fought in over a year, going into the final round Verdejo was ahead 87-84 and 86-85 on two scorecards with Lozada ahead 86-85 on the remaining scorecard. In round 10, Lozada knocked Verdejo down once. After Verdejo beat the count and got to his feet, Lozada began to unload more shots which led to referee Eddie Claudio stopping the fight at 2:37 of the round. Following his first professional career defeat, Verdejo took eight months out and returned to the ring in Puerto Rico on November 10, 2018, against Mexican journeyman Yardley Armenta Cruz. The fight took place at the Mario Quijote Morales Coliseum in Guaynabo. Verdejo returned to winning ways after stopping Cruz in round 2. It was a left hook which sent him down and he was unable to recover. On April 20, 2019, Verdejo fought his second fight after his first loss, on the Crawford vs Khan undercard at the Madison Square Garden, against Bryan Vasquez, ranked #7 by the WBA at lightweight. Verdejo won by a 10-round unanimous decision, with the scorecards reading 97-93, 97-93, 98-92. It was a good win, but fans and media alike thought the once world-class prospect left a lot to be desired. After that fight, some critics pointed out that Verdejo could use a new trainer in the future. In October 2019, he was announced to have met with numerous trainers in the United States, who were interested in working with him.] The following month, he announced that he will be working with renowned boxing trainer Ismael Salas, known for training Cuban greats like Guillermo Rigondeaux, Luis Ortiz and Eris Lara in a bid to regain control and restart his career. In his first fight with a new trainer, Felix battled Manuel Rey Rojas to a unanimous ten-round decision. The first few rounds proved to be tougher for the Puerto Rican, but as the fight went on got up to speed and managed to secure a clear win. Despite securing a clear win, critics were not impressed by the win, mostly because Verdejo felt like a blue-chip prospect and a star-in-making after the 2012 Olympics, but still hasn't delivered on the same level in the professional game. Authorities therefore deemed it necessary for Verdejo to again fight for contention as he had not been very active due to injuries and postponements and the quality of his opponents was unsatisfactory, some of whom coming off losses including to Filipinos at lower weights. Then boom! The Nakatani loss happened. Verdejo may have been at the lowest point of his life in his boxing career and that could have beclouded his mind when that unfortunate incident occurred involving his pregnant girlfriend. Tragic. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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