By Jake Donovan

For a boxer with little public profile, Jose Pedraza has managed to remain in the spotlight more often than most others in the industry. The unbeaten super featherweight titlist from Cidra, Puerto Rico has seen more than half of his career bouts gain airtime and is now set for his third consecutive appearance on Showtime, when he faces England’s Stephen Smith on April 16.

With a title in tow and a major cable network on board to showcase his talents, Pedraza has plenty of reason to smile these days. So it was met with bewilderment by Lou DiBella – who serves as co-promoter along with Javier Bustillo and Gary Shaw – that the unbeaten boxer took to the media to voice displeasure over the manner in which his career has been handled.

The biggest hindrance in his career has been constantly being compared to fellow unbeaten Boricua boxer Felix Verdejo, who has quickly emerged as the island’s latest favorite son. Plenty have argued that Pedraza (21-0, 12KOs) – who represented Puerto Rico in the 2008 Beijing Olympics – is the more talented and accomplished of the two. Yet, it’s Verdejo – a member of Team Puerto Rico in the 2012 London Olympics – who has garnered greater fanfare to date.

“Verdejo has good promotion behind him, they put him in front of the public more, they do a good job,” Pedraza told BoxingScene.com’s Ben Jacobs earlier in the week. “In my case the promoters aren’t doing much so that the fans and the press recognize me.

“But in the case of the press, they realize the quality of a lot of boxers. In my case, I am the champion, they don’t give me the publicity that I deserve but the press knows that I won my position and title on my own merit.”

As many boxers before Pedraza have been forced to learn, it’s not always about who is the most talented. Verdejo carries an infectious personality, always smiling and interacting with his fans, and – at least as far as it’s suggested by his team – is relatively easy to deal with in terms of career progress.

In stark contrast, Pedraza normally bears the look of a man who is never satisfied, no matter the achievement. An expressionless look on his face is often found even after major in-ring victories and even his latest round of negotiations for his upcoming mandatory title defense versus Smith proved to be a task. Even in the aforementioned interview with BoxingScene.com, his career achievements are prefaced with “I” rather than “we” or “my team.”

“I like the kid, he has all the potential in the world,” DiBella said to BoxingScene.com. “We’ve invested a lot of time, energy and money in developing his career. He’s been on Showtime, ESPN2 and on TV when fighting at home in Puerto Rico, throughout most of his career on the way up.

“We got him to a point where a win would get him to the title (his eventual 12-round nod over Michael Farenas). We should have been able to sell that to any network. He and his stepfather (Luis Espada, Pedraza’s trainer) wanted the fight in Puerto Rico, so that took away any regional cable coverage. It wound up airing live on DirecTV in Puerto Rico. He won the fight and then we got him on Showtime for really an unsellable title fight (versus Andrey Klimov) and then a voluntary defense versus Edner Cherry.”

As evidenced by his unbeaten record, Pedraza naturally won both fights and returns to Showtime’s airwaves for his fight with Smith, which takes place at Foxwoods Casino Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

The fight could have taken place earlier and in either New York City or Brooklyn, New York, a heavily Puerto Rican-populated region that could have improved his profile. However, a crucial point in negotiations between boxer and promoter saw that window shut and the fight once again return to purse bid.

DiBella submitted the winning – and the only – bid to reclaim the rights to the fight. However, it also required his working out a financial package with Smith and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, in addition to satisfying his own boxer.

“It’s nuts, usually you go to purse bid because you can’t work out terms with the other fighter,” DiBella notes. “I had no problem working with Eddie. We worked out the details the first time, and again when the fight went back to purse bid. But I couldn’t even get to my own fighter. It’s not his own fault, he has the wrong people giving him bad advice.

“At a crucial point in talks, I couldn’t get a hold of (Espada) for weeks to get this fight going. He does a great job of training the kid. I really wish he would stick to that, let (adviser) Al Haymon do his job on the management side, and his promoters handle the business part. We want to work with him and of course get his name out there.

“The purse bid spoke for itself. I was the only one who put up a bid. We didn’t have to pay him any more than 75% of the purse bid ($112,500, from the $150,000 winning amount for the fight). But we’re honoring the original agreement we made with them. So now between what we’re paying Smith’s side and coming out of pocket for my kid… it’s clear we’re all the way in with him. He has to do his part as well.”

That will require more than just continuing to win in the ring, especially if the manner in which he emerges victorious isn’t exactly overblowing viewers with enthusiasm.

His title win over Klimov came as the Showtime-televised co-feature to Deontay Wilder in the first defense of his heavyweight title. The show took place last June in front of a sold-out crowd at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. Pedraza won a landslide decision to claim a vacant super featherweight belt, but the fight quickly reached a monotonous stage, with both boxers going through the motions down the stretch.

“Klimov’s only other fight of note to U.S. fans was when he stunk it out versus Terence Crawford (Oct. ’13 on HBO),” DiBella acknowledges. “It’s a tough style to look good against and through no fault of Pedraza that the fight wasn’t very entertaining. The Showtime (brass) sensed this going in, but we have a great relationship and they really like the kid so they agreed to air the fight.

“There were two major fights we could have made for his first defense. They wanted an "interim" fight instead. We weren’t thrilled by it because that means you have two not-so-major fights in a row becuase you still have the mandatory ahead.

“The interim fight was Edner Cherry. It was a fun fight and one where many believed Cherry edged it out. I personally had Pedraza winning (as did BoxingScene.com from ringside that October evening in Cincinnati). But knowing that even with a win, it’s now two fights in a row where he’s not going into a really big fight.”

Pedraza now faces an interesting scenario from a marketing standpoint – the forthcoming bout with Smith (23-1, 13KOs) will mark the second time in his last three starts in which Verdejo fights on the same evening.

The two were on dueling telecasts last June – while Pedraza was outboxing Klimov in Alabama, Verdejo made his HBO debut in a 10-round win over Ivan Najera, taking place at Madison Square Garden Theatre on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City.

Fast forward to present day, Verdejo will fight at home in San Juan versus Mexico’s Daniel Evangelista Jr. on an Unimas telecast that will likely carry some overlap with the Showtime telecast carrying Pedraza-Smith.

The latter scenario could have easily been avoided if the fight took place earlier in the year, where they could now be discussing a big fight for his next ring appearance. Instead, he goes head to head in dueling telecasts with his fellow islander.

“We wanted the (Smith) fight on Showtime. Stephen (Espinoza, who heads Showtime Sports) has supported his career tremendously,” DiBella acknowledges. “Regardless of what can be said about him, Pedraza is a tremendous talent. His immediate team wouldn't agree to the money, which shows his lack of understanding of market value.

“I'm now paying him twice the amount of the purse bid, because I elected to. A lot of the issue is the stepfather failing to concentrate solely on training the fighter. We had more Puerto Rican-centric locations for this fight. They indicated (Pedraza) couldn't be ready in 6-7 weeks. If you're fighting full time, you should be gym ready enough if you have the opportunity to fight in a venue that's perfect to build your fan base.”

DiBella continues: “Instead, we had to work out a scenario where he’s not forced to go to the UK to face Smith – who comes from a fighting family (brothers Liam, Callum and Paul are all pro boxers) and is a tough, tough kid in general.

“So, we have the fight in the United States. All we can do is look forward. What I want to see is Jose Pedraza go out there and really win big. Put on a show, and let’s work together to build up your brand for the future. The game plan after (April 16) is the biggest, highest profile fight that can be made. That’s anyone out there – any other champ at 130 or even a fight with Verdejo, who doesn’t yet have an opponent (for a planned June 11 appearance at MSG Theatre).”

A potential dealbreaker on such a showdown is Pedraza going on record claiming they are friends and that such a fight isn’t on his mind. Whether politically motivated as to not further divide the fans in Puerto Rico, it wasn’t the talk of a fighter who wants to take on all comers.

“There have been plenty of fights in history where two boxers put aside their friendship and gave memorable brawls,” DiBella points out. “I promoted Micky Ward – he and (the late) Arturo Gatti loved each other, were great friends. That didn’t stop them from beating the s*** out of each other for 30 rounds.”

“I have the Serrano sisters, Amanda and Cindy Serrano (the latter whom won a six-round decision on DiBella’s latest Broadway Boxing show Wednesday evening in New York City. Cindy told me flat out, she wants to fight Amanda because she’s pound-for-pound the best female fighter in the world and she wants the best. Amanda said she’d fighter because she owes her the opportunity to be able to fight the best.”

Regardless of where Pedraza’s career goes from this point onward, the main priority is ensuring that everyone is on the same page – and that everyone understands their role.

“Like I said, the kid is a great fighter and has potential to be even greater, in and out of the ring,” DiBella states. “But he has to want it for himself. Go out, shake hands, kiss babies, interact on social media. Do all the little things it takes to get people to talk about you whether you’re fighting or (during downtime in between fights).

“The main thing, though, he and especially those around him who might be trying to give him advice – they have to respect the role each of us are required to play. We’re jumping through hoops to get this kid to the next level; that has to be respected.

“Jose just needs to worry about fighting and engaging with his fans. His stepfather can concentrate on training. We will handle the rest and together work towards making him a household name. But it has to start with him wanting that and working together.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox