By Ryan Burton
On Sunday an article ran on BoxingScene.com in which Ricky Marquez, the manager and trainer of unbeaten lightweight Felix Verdejo (22-0) and lightweight contender Jose Felix Jr. (33-1-1) traded words over a potential fight between the Puerto Rican and Mexican.
There have been reports that Felix Jr. turned down the opportunity to face Verdejo in his most recent fight that took place on June 11th but the Sinaloa native insists that offer was made under false pretenses.
"They had offered me a certain amount of money but once it looked like a bad fight for Verdejo (after his February and April lackluster performances) they cut the offer back to one-third of what it was," Felix Jr. revealed about the fight that ultimately went to his countryman Juan Jose Martinez who was stopped in 5 rounds in a good bounce back performance by Verdejo.
"They just wanted me to turn down the small amount of money so that they could say they made an offer they knew we couldn't accept."
The 24-year-old Felix Jr. said that he is still very interested in the fight and hopes that Verdejo accepts his challenge. While Verdejo has a lot of hype behind him, Felix Jr. believes the 2012 Puerto Rican Olympian hasn't done anything as a professional to merit the attention he has received.
"I am interested in big fights, period. I'm tired of all the attention that is given to him. I want to fight him to put him in his place. Who does he think he is to be trying to run the division? I feel like I am in his shadow and he hasn't done anything. I want to fight him to make it crystal clear who runs the division," Felix Jr. told BoxingScene.com.
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