By Victor Salazar
New York - Felix Verdejo (18-0, 13KOs) made his HBO debut last night in The Theatre at Madison Square Garden by winning a unanimous decision over Texas’ Ivan Najera. Verdejo dropped Najera twice but couldn’t get the knockout even though he dominated Najera for much of the bout.
Verdejo was happy with his performance especially because he was battling a left hand injury before going into the bout.
“I give myself a B-,” Verdejo told BoxingScene.com. I didn’t get the knockout but I’m very satisfied with my performance.”
Even though Verdejo had Najera hurt and on the canvas twice, his plan was to box, look for opening, and win. However he does feel if the fan was not an issue he could have done more work with his left hand.
“I wasn’t really looking for the knockout,” stated the young prospect. “I came out to box and if the knockout came it came. The hand was an injury but its boxing.”
Depending on what the doctor says regarding the hand injury, Verdejo could be out for 3 months. The plan is to get him back in the ring in the fall and eventually build up to the big room in Madison Square Garden.
“God willing that’s the plan maybe next June to grow my fan base to headline the bigger arena,” Verdejo said. “I’m very happy with the support from the Puerto Rican fans and I’m proud to be Puerto Rican.”