Fast Results from the Bubble: Resurgent Verdejo Blasts Out Madera

Fast Results from the Bubble: Resurgent Verdejo Blasts Out Madera

Thursday’s edition of the semi-weekly Top Rank Summer Series on ESPN was supposed to be a seven-fight card. Three fights fell out and for the second time this week, the main event was one of the casualties. The bout between Miguel Marriaga and Mark John Yap was scratched when Yap came in 8.7 pounds overweight.

Two nights ago, Mikaela Mayer was bumped into the main event and took full advantage of the opportunity that fell into her lap, outclassing Helen Joseph in the best performance of her career. Tonight, Felix Verdejo seized the moment with a spectacular first round knockout over previously undefeated Will Madera.

A three-punch combination that started with a vicious right uppercut knocked Madera through the ropes where his head rested on the ring apron. He struggled to regain his feet, but when he finally did get his feet under him, his legs were spaghetti. The official time of the stoppage was 2:59.

A 2012 Olympian from San Juan, Verdejo, 27, was touted as the next Felix Trinidad coming out of the amateur ranks. But although he has lost only one pro fight in 28 starts – that coming at the hands of Tijuana’s Antonio Lozada who stopped him in the 10^th round – one can fairly say that because of high expectations his career has been spotty. But tonight, in his second fight with Ismael Salas in his corner – and his second fight in Las Vegas where he made his pro debut – Verdejo looked like a world beater. Madera, from Albany, NY, was 15-0-3 heading in.

Verdejo was knocked out of the London Olympiad in the quarterfinals by Vassiliy Lomachenko. In his post-fight interview with Bernardo Osuna, he targeted Lomachenko, saying they had unfinished business.

Other Bouts

In the 8-round co-feature, 23-year-old Allentown, Pennsylvania featherweight Martino Jules (10-0, 3 KOs) kept his undefeated record intact with a majority decision over Aleem Jumakhonov. Jules fought most of the fight on the retreat, but he landed more punches than the 27-year-old Jumakhonov (8-3-2) who was born in Tajikistan. The scores were 76-76 and 78-74 twice.

Jared Anderson, touted by Top Rank and their sportscasting partners as the Next Big Thing in the heavyweight division, improved to 5-0 with another first round knockout, the fourth of his young career. He took out Hector Perez at the 1:45 mark, felling Perez with a combination of punches climaxed by a right hook that landed behind Perez’s ear. Perez’s body language indicated that he didn’t want any more and the referee complied. The 20-year-old hot prospect from Toledo came in at 241 ¾, giving him a 20-pound weight advantage.

The lid-lifter was an entertaining 4-round lightweight skirmish between Reno, Nevada’s Kenny Davis Jr. (3-2-1) and Eduardo Sanchez (2-3) from Corcoran, California. Davis was out-worked by Sanchez, notably in round two, but emerged victorious thanks to a wicked punch to the liver that knocked Sanchez down in the third stanza. Davis subsequently had a point deducted after losing his mouthpiece for the second time (he was on a short leash after hitting Sanchez when Sanchez was down, which drew only a warning). A draw would have been the fairest verdict and one of the judges saw it that way, but Davis, who had a good amateur pedigree, copped a majority decision.

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There’s more live boxing on tap for U.S. fight fans on Saturday afternoon when undefeated heavyweight Agit Kabayal (19-0, 13 KOs) squares off against Eugenios Lazaridis (16-2, 10 KOs) before an audience limited to one thousand in Magdeburg, Germany. Kabayal signed a co-promotional deal with Top Rank in September of last year. The bout will air on ESPN+.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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