By Keith Idec

Felix Verdejo’s return from head injuries sustained in an August motorcycle accident will come February 3 in Puerto Rico.

An opponent for the unbeaten lightweight’s first fight back since that setback hasn’t been chosen. But he’ll fight a southpaw if matchmakers from Top Rank Inc., Verdejo’s promoter, can find one suitable for a 10-round fight UniMas will televise.

If Verdejo (22-0, 15 KOs) wins his next bout, he’ll challenge England’s Terry Flanagan for the WBO world lightweight title in his following fight. Flanagan (32-0, 13 KOs) is left-handed.

“Flanagan had his fight with Orlando Cruz [an eighth-round TKO win November 26], this is our fight and the WBO is still mandating that they fight each other,” Carl Moretti, Top Rank’s vice president of boxing operations, told BoxingScene.com. “Verdejo’s the mandatory. He was supposed to fight [Flanagan] before he had the accident. We’ll have 10 days of free negotiations [after Verdejo fights February 3]. Then they would set a date for a purse bid.”

The 23-year-old Verdejo declared himself healthy and announced his return Tuesday via Instagram. His injuries, including cuts to his head and face, required a hospital stay in Puerto Rico, but weren’t considered life-threatening.

The 2012 Puerto Rican Olympian last fought June 11 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, where Verdejo stopped Mexico’s Juan Jose Martinez (26-3, 18 KOs) in the fifth round of a bout HBO televised.

That impressive victory came four months after Verdejo boxed his way to an uninspiring unanimous-decision defeat of Brazil’s William Silva (23-1, 14 KOs) in a 10-rounder in The Theater.

“I’m not looking for anything other than that I hope we get rounds out of the fight,” Moretti said. “I don’t know who we’re fighting yet. We just wanna see him get back in the ring. Our expectations are not high at all because he hasn’t fought since June, we’re overcoming a lot here and we just want to get him back in the ring.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.