Felix Verdejo will be returning to the ring next month…
The 27-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer and lightweight contender will fight Masayoshi Nakatani on December 12, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti has told The Athletic.
The fight will be the co-main event of a Top Rank card at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Verdejo (27-1, 17 KOs) was injured in a motorcycle accident in August 2016 but returned to the ring six months later and has a record of 5-1 since then, including an impressive first-round TKO victory over Will Madera in July.
Japan’s Nakatani (18-1, 12 KOs) made his U.S. debut in July 2019 and was the first fighter to take Teofimo Lopez the distance, losing a hard-fought unanimous decision at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Top Rank is still looking for a replacement main event after Miguel Berchelt tested positive for COVID-19 and his fight against Oscar Valdez was postponed.
Former featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson offered to step in for Berchelt and told ESPN on Tuesday that he had asked his team to inquire about the possibility of fighting Valdez on short notice.
There’s a new lightweight king… And his name is Teofimo Lopez.
At just 23 years old, the Honduran American professional boxer has became the undisputed lightweight champion of the world by dethroning Vasiliy Lomachenko over 12 tense rounds inside the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Lopez becomes the youngest fighter to become a four-belt champion since the WBO was founded in 1988.
After a strong start, Lopez overcame a late Lomachenko rally to win by the scores of 116-112, 119-109 and 117-111.
The bout was dominated early by the boxing of Lopez, who controlled the center of the ring by using his educated left hand and then hit Lomachenko with well-placed body shots that had the smaller boxer backing up.
Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) built a big lead on the scorecards as he was able to neutralize the graceful movements of Lomachenko (14-2, 10) behind that jab. For most of the first half of the fight, Lomachenko just moved around the ring and did very little offensively. It was clear the technical acumen and poise of Lopez was vastly underrated. For long stretches of the bout he was actually outboxing the master boxer.
Yet Lomachenko didn’t give up without a fight. As the fight entered the late stages, Lomachenko, sensing he was behind, began to ramp up the pressure and started to close the gap on Lopez. He struck him with quick, laser-like left hands that slowed the momentum of Lopez. To his credit, Lomachenko put together a late rally in the championship rounds.
“I think the first half of the fight he got more rounds than I did, but in the second half of the fight I took over,” Lomachenko said. “I was much better.”
But if a late statement was needed by Lopez, it was made in the 12th and final round. Despite Lopez’s father saying he had the fight won entering the last round, Lopez kept the pressure on and got his hand moving, landing several significant power shots that halted Lomachenko in his tracks. Only a clash of heads that caused a gash over Lopez’s left eye stemmed the tide.
“I’m a fighter,” Lopez said after the fight regarding the 12th round. “I gotta dig in deep. I knew he was coming. I didn’t know if they had him up on the scorecards or not, and I love to fight. I can bang, too. I don’t care, man. I’ll take one to give one. That’s what a true champion does. I find a way to win.”
This round was a late exclamation to what was a sterling performance by a young man who fulfilled the destiny of his outspoken father, who prophesied that not only would his son win a world title by his 15th fight, but he would topple a boxer many consider the best in the sport by his 16th.
The 25-year-old Mexican boxer defeated Ruben Villa by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO featherweight title on Friday night at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Navarrete, a former junior featherweight world titlist, was able to win the fight on the strength of two knockdowns — in the first and fourth rounds — by the scores of 114-112, 114-112 and 115-111.
Navarrete (33-1, 28 KOs) had a decided edge in strength and power. And while the southpaw Villa (18-1, 5 KOs) was effective in spots by moving around the ring, the difference in punching prowess was obvious. At the end of the fight, Navarrete had outlanded Villa 131-58 in power punches.
Navarrete clipped Villa with a long left uppercut that sent him down for the first time at the end of the first round. To his credit, Villa got up and was effective in the next two rounds, but in the fourth another long, lashing left hand from Navarrete sent Villa down for the second time. Without these two knockdowns, this bout would’ve been a majority draw.
Navarrete is not a classic stylist, or the most fundamentally sound fighter you’ll see. He often makes fundamental errors, but he more than makes up for it with his relentlessness and activity. At times he simply swarms his opponents to a point where they get overwhelmed. Villa was the more sound boxer, but he lacked the pop to truly get Navarrete’s respect or ever hurt him.
“I knew that Villa was a fighter that moved a lot and I knew that he was going to move even more once he felt my power,” Navarrete said after the fight. “I didn’t get the knockout, but I got the victory.”
Villa had some good moments in the second half of the fight where he boxed effectively, but he didn’t do enough to turn the tide of this contest.
“I’m very happy with this championship. It’s a reflection of all the sacrifices and all the hard work I put in,” Navarrete said. “I conquered my second weight class because of all that hard work.
“I have my sights set on all the world champions at 126. I would love to face [Josh] Warrington. I think that our styles will make for a great fight.”
The 23-year-old Puerto Rican boxer, a hard-hitting super middleweight hopeful, will face veteran Lanell Bellows (20-5-3, 13 KOs).
Berlanga (14-0, 14 Kos) has scored all of his knockouts in the first round.
He defeated Eric Moon in his most recent outing on July 21, needing just 62 seconds to get the job done.
The fight is part of the undercard for the Vasiliy Lomachenko–Teofimo Lopez lightweight unification fight at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
A junior welterweight battle between 26-year-old Mexican professional boxer, a former title challenger, and unbeaten fighter Arnold Barboza Jr. has been finalized for October 17.
The fight is part of the undercard for the Vasiliy Lomachenko–Teofimo Lopez lightweight unification fight at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Saucedo (30-1, 19 KOs) faced Maurice Hooker in November 2018 for the vacant WBO title, losing by seventh-round TKO. Since then, Saucedo has changed trainers, and has defeated Rod Salka by first-round knockout last November and Sonny Fredrickson by unanimous decision in June.
Saucedo is currently ranked No. 6 by the WBO.
Barboza (24-0, 10 KOs), who defeated Tony Luis by unanimous decision on August 29, is rated No. 7 by the WBC and WBO.
The 28-year-old Mexican American boxer has retained his WBC and WBO junior welterweight world titles in a close battle against Viktor Postol.
Postol’s tactical boxing style made Ramirez strategically uncomfortable throughout this weekend’s fight, and neither man ever truly took control of the action.
But, it was Ramirez who ultimately got the majority decision win by the scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
With the victory, Ramirez kept alive his chances of fully unifying the 140-pound division against Josh Taylor, who holds the WBA and IBF world titles.
Ramirez, a frenetic pressure fighter, was kept at bay for much of the fight by the long reach of Postol, who worked the perimeter of the ring adroitly for long stretches of the fight.
While many of the rounds were close, Ramirez generally appeared the busier fighter. He was able to stun Postol a few times with left hands in the seventh and eighth rounds.
But Ramirez was never truly able to impose his will on the always-composed Postol. Unfortunately for Postol, his game plan wouldn’t be enough to capture the two belts.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this bout had been canceled twice prior. Both fighters had not fought in more than a year.
Ramirez said the long layoff and the crowdless environment affected his performance.
“I went in there a little too cold, you know?” Ramirez said after the fight. “I impressed myself. I’m much stronger than most guys think. I just gotta not lose confidence in myself and stick to what I do best and box, let my hands go and not hesitate too much. I think there was a little bit of hesitation throughout the fight.
“I felt like I was just in a sparring session. I think I could’ve made the fight a lot easier in my favor, but we live and we learn. This was an amazing experience. I’m just happy I got the win.”
Ramirez cleared a significant hurdle in his quest to become the first fighter of Mexican heritage to capture all four major belts in a division.
Ramirez’s attention now turns to September 26, when Taylor faces his IBF mandatory challenger, Apinun Khongsong. A victory by Taylor could set up a title unification bout with Ramirez.
