By Miguel Rivera
Puerto Rican Olympian Felix Verdejo is craving to get revenge on Vasyl Lomachenko in the pro ranks. Lomachenko, 25, beat Verdejo, who is five years younger, with a score of 14-9 in the 2012 Olympics in London. Lomachenko went on to win his second gold medal. Both fighters have since turned pro and signed with Top Rank, although Lomachenko is far more advanced in his career - receiving a world title shot in only his second pro fight, as he takes on WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido on March 1.
"Lomachenko is our goal in the future," Verdejo said. "It's the fight I want in the future. I want to get rid of this thorn [in my side] and face in the same fashion as when Miguel Cotto fought and beat Mohammed Abdullaev and Kelson Pinto. For that [goal] we are working hard and developing ourselves to get to that point. When I confronted Lomachenko he was already an Olympic champion, he was a man. He had the maturity, he had gone through that stage before and for me it was my first big stage," Verdejo told Carlos Narvaez.
