Earlier this month Top Rank Boxing announced the awaited return of Felix Verdejo to the March 17th card in New York. At the time his opponent was unknown but recent reports have surfaced that say he could be facing fellow Puerto Rican Juan Manuel Lopez.
Lopez is a former two division world champion but has been very inactive in recent times. He’s literally fought once in the last 38 plus months. He was last in the ring over a year ago when he stopped Wilfredo Vasquez Jr in October 2016. Prior to that he faced Jesus Cuellar in September 2014.
He was scheduled to face Jayson Velez back in September of this year but the fight was canceled due to Hurricane Maria and it’s destruction on the island of Puerto Rico.
Verdejo, 23-0 15KO, himself has been out of the ring since February when he beat Oliver Flores by unanimous decision in a bout that was tougher than expected. He missed time due to injuries suffered from a motorcycle accident as well as during training camp for a fight he pulled out of in September as well.
This fight is interesting in that it matches two guys that at one point were thought of as possible torchbearers for the great Puerto Rican boxing tradition. 3KingsBoxing.com will update the details involving this fight as Antonio Lozada Jr has also been mentioned as a possibility.
By: Chris Henderson
