Felix Verdejo Doesn't Disappoint

Will the man on the street soon know who Verdejo is?

Felix Verdejo was highly hyped leading up to Saturday's fight against Ivan Najera and with good reason. For the Puerto Rican junior lightweight looked good, really, really good leading up to the fight. Heck, the guy could drop guys going backward, a la Sugar Ray Robinson. If that wasn't something to get excited about, what was?

Round one was about feeling his opponent out for Verdejo. To his credit, however, Najera was aggressive. And he stayed aggressive at the start of the second. Verdejo, however, responded in kind, going on the attack himself. Things were getting exciting.

By the third, Verdejo's reach was clearly becoming a factor. It was simply hard for Najera, to get through that job.  A great right in the last few seconds of the round looked like it might be a portent of things to come.

Najera was able to land on his man in the third. Needless to say, the up and comer.  was out for blood afterwards. For Verdejo started nailing Najera with hard, clean shots. By the end of the round, though it was clear Najera could take some serious blows - and could still be aggressive.

Still, the round was Verdejo's. As was the fourth.

A left in the fifth put Najera down. He got up and was met with a Verdejo onslaught. Yet he survived, something most probably didn't expect. One noticeable flaw of the impressive Verdejo became clear - he gets wild at times.

Ironically enough, he seemed to take the sixth off. Oh, he most likely did enough to win it, but he wasn't particularly aggressive. Najera came on strong in the last minute of the seventh, but he just didn't have the arsenal to make a real impact. Indeed, he was down again at the end of the round.

By the end of the eighth, Najera was taking such a beating that it seemed like the fight had gone on just as long as it needed to. Najera kept brawling, however, and so the fight continued. No matter. Two rounds later Verdejo had wrapped things up. Verdejo had previously let his corner know that he had hurt his hand, so a knockout was out of the question.

As for Najera, he proved to be a true warrior. He even managed to rock Verdejo at the end of the bout. Najera may, however, want to find himself a new team. His chaotic corner did him no favors on Saturday.