Felix Verdejo Dominates, Stops Juan Martinez in Five Rounds

By Thomas Gerbasi

The Theater, Madison Square Garden, New York - After two less than thrilling outings, rising Puerto Rican star Felix Verdejo got the knockout he wanted, finishing Mexico's Juan Jose Martinez in the fifth round, retaining his WBO Latino lightweight title in the process.

The 23-year-old Verdejo took his time getting acclimated to his opponent in the opening round, and Martinez was content to let the San Juan native lead the dance as the fight began.

Martinez got more aggressive in the second and third, but he wasn't fast enough to trouble Verdejo, who also began opening up more, drawing roars from the crowd with each power shot landed.

By round four, Martinez' face was marked up and he had tasted Verdejo's power, causing him to be a little more careful with his rushes, and having already cut his foe, the Puerto Rican started targeting Martinez' body.

But in the fifth, Verdejo put it all together, and after peppering Martinez for much of the round, a right hand hit paydirt and staggered the Mexico City native. A furious barrage of unanswered shots followed, with referee Mike Ortega calling a stop to the bout at the 2:40 mark.

With the win, Verdejo moves to 22-0 with 15 KOs; Martinez, who had not lost for nearly two years, falls to 25-3 with 17 KOs.

ON THE UNDERCARD

Zou Shiming's defense of his WBO international flyweight title was a painful exercise to witness thanks to a bizarre game plan from Hungary's Jozsef Ajtai, but the two-time Olympic gold medalist from China dealt with it and logged his eighth pro win by way of a 10-round unanimous decision.

Scores for Shiming, now 8-1 with 2 KOs, all read 100-89. Ajtai falls to 15-3 with 10 KOs.

Ajtai's wild, awkward style was the complete opposite of Shiming's well-schooled technical attack, but the Guizhou native's jab still allowed him to control the opening frames of the fight as the crowd got restless with Ajtai's largely defensive game plan.

Shiming's pressure opened up some opportunities when he trapped Ajtai against the ropes or in the corner, but he wasn't able to consistently land on his foe, whose strategy was growing more and more puzzling with each round.

By the midway point of the fight, the only consolation was that it was only ten rounds and that referee Ron Lipton, who warned Ajtai several times for holding, was starting to take control of the bout.

In the sixth, Ajtai nearly tackled Shiming after eating a flurry in the corner, and Lipton docked him a point. That didn't ignite any sort of fire in Ajtai, who got back on his bicycle, hoping to potshot his way to a victory. He even danced in the middle of the ring after the round, perhaps thinking that the fight was going according to plan. It wasn't.

To his credit, Shiming kept moving forward while trying to make a fight of it. He was alone in this quest, but he'll take the win.

New York's Jose Gonzalez kept Arecibo's Sean Acosta from the win column in their featherweight bout, but he wasn't able to add another win to his record, as he was forced to settle for a four-round draw.

Scores were 39-37 for Gonzalez and 38-38 twice.

The bout wasn't particularly compelling over the first three frames, but in the fourth, Acosta (0-2-1) stepped up and tried to goad Gonzalez (3-0-1, 1 KO) into a brawl, and the Harlem product, who was bleeding from a cut over his right eye, gladly obliged, briefly rocking Acosta before the final bell sounded.

Unbeaten Puerto Rican featherweight Christopher Diaz scored a punishing eighth-round TKO over Mexico's gutsy, but overmatched, Neftali Campos.

Diaz came out banging at the bell, digging to the head and body of Campos. He appeared to be on the verge of a stoppage win in the opening frame, but referee David Fields inexplicably halted Diaz' barrage to replace Campos' mouthpiece.

Diaz kept the heat on in rounds two through six, Campos firing back gamely, but he was simply outgunned by the Barranquitas product, who kept piling up the points on the scorecards.

At a certain point, it was clear that Campos didn't have the firepower to turn the bout around, but his corner continued to send him out, even after a long look from the ringside doctors before rounds seven and eight.

Finally, Fields saw enough at 2:33 of the eighth and final round, stopping the fight after another sustained offensive assault from Diaz, who improves to 17-0 with 11 KOs. Tijuana's Campos falls to 11-2 with 9 KOs.

Popular New Jersey up and comer Julian Rodriguez made short work of Adam Mate in welterweight action, dropping his foe four times en route to a first-round TKO win.

Two left hooks - one to the body, one to the head gave Mate an early trip to the canvas, and it didn't get any better from there. Moments later, Rodriguez scored a second knockdown, and when it seemed like Mate had gotten his legs back, a body shot produced a third knockdown. Referee Ron Lipton let the fight continue, but only until a barrage of shots left the Budapest product staggering into the ropes, where the fight was called at 2:27 of round one.

With the win, Hasbrouck Heights' Rodriguez moves to 13-0 with 10 KOs; Mate falls to 18-10 with 11 KOs.

Junior welterweight prospect Mike Reed kept his unbeaten record intact against Mexico's Abraham Cordero, but he had to fight to do it, as Cordero gave Reed all he could handle before the end came via sixth-round TKO.

Cordero was certainly willing, taking the fight to Reed and catching him with several shots early on, even if the punches weren't having any effect on the Maryland product. But Reed weathered the storm, and late in the round he tagged and hurt Cordero with a left hand. A second left sent the Guadalajara native into the ropes, forcing a count from referee Johnny Callas just before the bell.

After being checked out by the ringside physician before round two, Cordero was cleared to continue, but the complexion of the fight had changed, with each shot by Reed designed to finish the bout. Cordero was game though, and his ability to keep throwing punches in the face of imminent danger got him though another round.

Reed?'s power edge kept him in the lead in the third, but he appeared to be getting frustrated by his ability to stop Cordero's high work rate and get him out of there.

Regrouping and going back to steady pressure and combinations, Reed began to pull away in the fourth frame, as Cordero finally began to slow down, prompting another visit from the doctor between rounds. Fearing a stoppage, Cordero emptied his gas tank in round five, displaying a remarkable dose of will and possibly stealing the round.

Reed's body attack began breaking Cordero down in the sixth, and with 'Yes Indeed' pouring it on, the fight was halted at the 2:29 mark.

With the win, Reed moved to 19-0 with 11 KOs; Cordero falls to 13-3-1.

Wasting absolutely no motion, Bayamon native Jean Carlos Rivera was a model of patience as he stalked and punished Mexico's Heriberto Delgado for five rounds before closing the featherweight bout in the sixth and final round.

The end came at the 49-second mark, following a knockdown by Rivera and a subsequent barrage of shots that prompted the stoppage.

Rivera moves to 7-0 with 4 KOs; Tijuana's Delgado falls to 11-5-1 with 6 stops.