Felix Verdejo will fight Juan Jose Martinez on June 11

By Francisco Salazar

Unbeaten lightweight Felix Verdejo will fight Juan Jose Martinez on June 11, Top Rank announced in a release Wednesday morning.

El Vocero in Puerto Rico was the first to break the story.

The Verdejo-Martinez fight will take place inside The Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout will precede the junior lightweight bout between Vasyl Lomachenko and Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez.

Both bouts will air live on HBO.

There were talks of Verdejo (21-0, 14 KOs) fighting lightweight contender Jose Felix, but word was Felix may have priced himself out of the fight.

In his last bout on April 16, Verdejo won a 10 round unanimous decision over Jose Luis Rodriguez in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Martinez (25-2, 17 KOs) is coming off a 10 round unanimous decision win over Emanuel Lopez on March 26. He has won his last six bouts in a row.

Martinez, who resides in the Mexico City area, last lost in September of 2014, losing to Filipino Rey Bautista by a technical majority decision. The fight was stopped in the seventh round because of a cut over Bautista’s left eye.

June 11 will mark the first time Martinez will fight in the United States.

The Top Rank card will take place on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. 
 
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing