The upside of Felix Verdejo

Jun

Ah, the smell of optimism in the air can combat the odor of the gym when the temps creep up to summer numbersÔÇª

On Wednesday, Bob Arum talked about his 17-0 (13 knockouts) prospect Felix Verdejo, who is hitting bigger stages these days, including that of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” on Saturday night, from Madison Square Garden’s Theater.

What about it, Bob; does “Diamante” compare favorably to the current Puerto Rican pugilistic icon, Miguel CottoÔÇªdoes he maybe have more upside than Miguel?

“Bigger upside because Verdejo is more like Felix Trinidad, much more fan-friendly than CottoÔÇªnot that Cotto didn’t make a big mark with the Puerto Ricans. Personality-wise too.”

According to Arum, Verdejo is quite advanced for having so few fights but he notes that he talked to Vasyl Lomachenko, who fought Verdejo, Oscar Valdez and Jose Ramirez, three Top Rank future studs. And Loma told the promoter that Verdejo was the best of the litter. “That’s pretty high praise!”

Arum thinks maybe, next year, Verdejo, who he doesn’t want to rush, will fight for a lightweight crown. That’s, of course, if all things go smoothlyÔÇªand Arum has been around too long to assume that.

Readers, how do you assess Verdejo, big-picture, long-term?

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