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Félix Verdejo was hyped as the next Puerto Rican superstar, a supremely talented young fighter who came into the pro’s after an impressive performance against Lomachenko in the Olympics. It hasn’t quite planned out. Here’s a thread looking at his career & my thoughts on him.
In terms of raw athletic ability, there probably wasn’t a better prospect than Verdejo when he started out. Ridiculous hand speed, explosive feet, a tight guard (more on that later), great combinations, smart construction of angles and a killer left hook to boot.
Watching him in 2015, my first impression was that the sky was the limit. Unfortunately, Verdejo has had consistent issues with his left hand (requiring surgery five years ago) and also suffered a nasty motorcycle accident. His vaunted handspeed has suffered as a result...
... and his left hook, once his most potent weapon, isn’t nearly as effective. There’s also been rumours that he wasn’t particularly disciplined outside of the gym, and these factors have resulted in his physical gifts waning.
But there’s more to Verdejo’s issues than that.
But there’s more to Verdejo’s issues than that.
Watching footage of his early career, you can see that Verdejo takes a very safety-oriented approach when fighting - even against middling opposition. His earmuff guard is excellent, but there’s not much defensive depth behind that.
You’ll rarely see him employ upper-body movement, and instead he has the same bad habit as Kosei Tanaka - an admittedly far superior fighter with similarly fast feet. Verdejo will often stay in punching range after throwing combinations, inviting return fire from opponents.
There’s little in the way of attempts to punish opponents when they throw in combination. Without upper-body movement, the slip-and-counter is under-utilised & Verdejo is content to absorb shots on his guard. He also rarely looks to tie an opponent up in order to diffuse them.
He’s also not particularly diverse in a tactical sense, and hasn’t shown much outside of ‘explode into combos, take some shots back’ and repeat. You get the feeling when watching Verdejo that his tactical nous is very limited.
Considering Verdejo’s matchmaking (TR have been moving him slower than any other blue-chip prospect I can remember) and risk-averse style, I always thought they knew something we didn’t, and had my doubts about his chin. Then Lozada Jr. upset him back in 2018.
All in all, it’s easy to overlook Verdejo’s flaws because of his physical gifts, but I think underlying issues would’ve saw him caught out at the elite level if he did deliver on his potential. Of course, he was young enough to develop back then...
... but with ongoing injuries and such, it’s looking like it’ll be too late to make changes and realise his potential at this point. He’s been a pro since 2012 now, and hasn’t come close to the heights many expected of him.
