Story by: Robert Uzzell
On Saturday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Boricua Felix Verdejo improved to 20-0, 14 KOs with a ten round decision over William Silva on Saturday. Verdejo did what he needed to do against Silva to earn the win, but the victory won’t be one that fans will remember as his best.
Verdejo won by lopsided scores of 100-90 twice, and 99-91. I thought the fight was closer, with neither man seeming to want to take the lead in the fight.
Silva made Verdejo look amateurish at times by displaying fantastic footwork and movement during the bout. However, his offensive output wasn’t enough to offset Verdejo’s.
There was speculation on part of press row that maybe Verdejo injured his fragile and surgically repaired hand. That wasn’t the case according to Verdejo.
“I felt very good. But he moved a lot. I did what I had to do to get the win. It was a learning experience for me.”
Verdejo continued to do just enough to each round, and Silva obliged each time. Most of the action came from wild one-punch misses by Verdejo with nothing to follow.
The pro-Verdejo crowd lost its volume during most of the second half of the fight. Both participants seemed content with riding the fight out by circling, landing with follow-ups, or throwing wild haymakers. But not much was happening for large swaths of the rounds as the fighters circled each other.
The best action of the fight happened in about the seventh round. Two jokers who were over the limit in the stands began to argue and a brief scuffle took place.
While Verdejo deserved the victory, let’s stop trying to make him the next Felix Trnidad or the next Miguel Cotto. He’s the first Felix Verdejo and from what we seems, that means he’ll be a great one. Tonight just wasn’t his best night.
The venue was a sold out, with roughly over 5,000 in attendance. Puerto Rico was definitely in the house. Omaha, Nebraska was also well represented.
THE FIGHT JOURNAL 