By Jake Donovan

From the moment he turned pro immediately following the 2012 London Olympics, Felix Verdejo was embraced by the brass at Top Rank as one of its surefire future stars. The 22-year old rising contender from Puerto Rico has lived up to expectations thus far, even with chronic hand injuries at one point threatening to slow down his career progress.

Less than a year following a spectacular HBO debut at Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York City, Verdejo returns to the network and the venue for a February 27 showdown with Brazil’s William Silva. The battle of unbeaten lightweights serves as the chief support to unbeaten super lightweight Terence Crawford in a title defense versus Hank Lundy.

The combination of Verdejo and Crawford on the show have produced strong ticket sales, with less than 600 seats remaining at the box office. Crawford is viewed as the next breakout star from the Top Rank stable, but the belief is that the strong Puerto Rican presence in New York City has gravitated toward the evening’s co-star.

“We’re going to be complete sold out,” Todd duBoef, Top Rank president informed a small group of reporters during a recent media conference call. “Tickets are very scarce right now. It’s been an incredible experience.”

Verdejo (19-0, 14KOs) will appear in the New York City region for the sixth time in his young career, including his fifth pro fight on MSG property. Among those appearances were placements on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City in mid-June in each of the past two years.

A third trip is planned for the red-hot contender, who could very well headline his first show at The Theatre in June. A lot needs to happen beforehand – he first needs to get past the 6’1” Silva (23-0, 14KOs), then get through an April 16 homecoming in San Juan. Assuming all goes well and he remains injury-free, awaiting the young star is a June 11 Garden party in his honor.

“Felix Verdejo, who we signed out of the Olympics, just has that “it” factor,” noted duBoef. “He has that sparkle in his eye and incredible allure to the consumer. It’s one thing to be marketable, another to deliver in the ring. His career (so far) has been incredible.”

Clearly, the best is yet to come – especially if the unbeaten boxer gets his way and sees an upgrade in competition as the year progresses.

“I look forward to one day headlining in New York. I’m confident that I can become one of the biggest stars in the area,” Verdejo believes.

Of course, such status requires securing the right dance partners. The same held true for fellow islanders Felix Trinidad – whom Verdejo considers a mentor and close friend – and former four-division champion Miguel Cotto.

 Trinidad eventually emerged as one of the most popular fighters ever to come from Puerto Rico, but his crossover appeal came with time.

His first fight in New York City was a box office bust. The event actually began as a planned June ’97 showdown with then-154 lb. champ Terry Norris, which would have headlined at Madison Square Garden on the eve of the PR Day Parade. When Norris went in a different direction, Trinidad was left to face Australian fringe contender Troy Waters in an Aug. ‘97 Pay-Per-view event which drew poorly while playing to a largely papered house at MSG.

A return to the famed arena in Feb. ’99 was met with greater embrace, scoring a landslide decision win over faded former four-division champ Pernell Whitaker – eventually leading to a coveted showdown with Oscar de la Hoya. Trinidad scored a debatable decision win in their Sept. ’99 welterweight unification bout, which at the time served as the highest-grossing non-heavyweight Pay-Per-View event in boxing history.

From there, his star power only increased. A Fighter of the Year campaign in 2000 led to his driving a middleweight tournament at MSG in 2001. He’d eventually lose to Bernard Hopkins – suffering a lopsided 12th round knockout in Sept. ’01 – but the bout along with his middleweight title win over William Joppy that prior May brought more than 40,000 fans to the venue.

Trinidad only appeared twice more at MSG – both times coming out of retirement. A sold-out crowd made for a rabid atmosphere in his Sept. ’04 “homecoming” knockout win over Ricardo Mayorga, ending a two-plus year ring hiatus. It would be the last win of a historic Hall of Fame career, suffering a 12-round loss to Winky Wright in their May ‘05 Las Vegas meet, followed a similarly lopsided loss more than 2½ years later in his next and final fight versus Roy Jones in their Jan. ’08 MSG headliner. 

The gap between Trinidad’s losses to Wright and Jones was filled by Cotto emerging as the next Boricua to take New York City by storm. The foundation was laid with his first MSG headliner in June ’05, scoring a 9th round stoppage of Muhammad Abdullaev to avenge a previous loss suffered in the opening round of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The event performed well at the box office, but left room for improvement.

Still, it established a tradition of the no-nonsense boxer starring on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, doing so on five other occasions (four fights at MSG, one at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx). Of his 12 career NYC appearances, nine have come as the headlining act at MSG, selling more tickets at the World’s Most Famous Arena than any other boxer in the 21st Century.

No moment was bigger than his shockingly one-sided 10th round stoppage of hobbled middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. The fight was Cotto’s first at middleweight after having previously enjoyed title reigns at super lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight. The win over Martinez earned Cotto the distinction of becoming the first – and to date, only – ever four-division world champion for boxing-rich Puerto Rico.

Verdejo witnessed the moment first-hand, performing on the non-televised undercard. If nothing else, it provided him with a goal which he believes to be attainable. Without moving too far ahead, the targeted June return in New York City will put his pro career at exactly 3 ½ years. Cotto’s first title win came at a similar point, stopping Kelson Pinto in six rounds – avenging another past amateur defeat, while also claiming a vacant 140 lb. title in his 21st pro fight.

Trinidad’s first title win – a brutal 2nd round knockout of then-welterweight titlist Maurice Blocker in June ’93 – came just over three years into his career and in his 20th pro fight.

Of course, neither had to deal with nagging injuries resulting in longer-than-expected inactive stretches that early in their respective careers.

In that regard, Verdejo believes the worst is perhaps behind him, operating at full strength moving forward. He’s ready to test that theory, with title aspirations already in his sights.

“The hand is 100%. It’s fully healed and is feeling good in training camp,” Verdejo said of a previous damaged hand that kept him out of the ring for six months last year before returning last December in San Juan.

If his current schedule holds up, he will return to San Juan in April and then back to New York City in June. That will give him four fights in a six-month stretch. The hope is that the stakes are raised for the tail end of that run.

“I’m just ready to fight. I don’t have a specific opponent in mind (for the future),” Verdejo notes in looking down the road while also focused on the task at hand versus Silva. “I just want to fight whoever is champion. I’m ready to fight for a world title.”

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