10 curiosities about Verdejo vs. Silva that you may not know

The most important boxing match in the last years involving a Brazilian boxer is coming. Tonight, at 11 p.m., Brazil’s SporTv broadcasts live from the Madison Square Garden, in New York, the fight between Puerto Rican Felix Verdejo against Brazilian Willian “Baby Face” Silva, in a WBO Latino lightweight title bout. Continuing our special coverage on the fight, we selected 10 curiosities about tonight’s bout: 1- Felix Verdejo has already been defeated by a Brazilian boxer as an amateur. In 2011, during the Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, he was defeated by Robenilson de Jesus, who won the Bronze medal in the tournament. Verdejo’s other fight against a Brazilian in the amateurs, however, gives good memories to him: he won the Gold medal in 2010 Pan-American Youth Championships, in Dominican Republic, beating Brazil’s Gilson Barros in the final. 2- Another one as an amateur: Verdejo classified to 2012 Summer Olympics in London after winning the America’s Olympic Qualifier, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the Olympic Games, he was defeated by Vasyl Lomachenko in the quarter-finals, just one win away of conquering a medal in the tournament. The Ukrainian boxer has already declared that considers Verdejo as his toughest opponent. 3- Willian Silva will be the first Brazilian boxer to enter in Madison Square Guarden’s ring for a boxing match since October 10th of 2009. In that occasion, Brazil’s Carlos “Açougue” Nascimento was defeated by Pawel Wolak, after the Brazilian did not return for the sixth round. 4- The international media misspells the name of the Brazilian boxer. Websites like Top Rank, and even Top Rank’s website, spells “William”, with “M”. Actually, the correct spelling is “Willian”, with “N”. “My name is with N, but everyone spells it wrongly. Even my contracts were with M. I don’t like people misspelling my name”, declared the Brazilian during an interview made by Round13 earlier this month. 5- Verdejo have already defeated a Brazilian as a professional: on last December, he beat Josenilson dos Santos by TKO in the 2nd round. Willian, on the other hand, have never faced a Puerto Rican as a pro. 6- The last bout of both boxers occurred in the same event. Fighting out of Coliseo Roberto Clemente, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Willian Silva knocked Bayan Jargal out, while Verdejo defeated Josenilson dos Santos. Both were preliminary bouts for the WBO super-bantamweight title fight between Nonito Donaire and Cesar Juarez, won by Donaire. 7- Verdejo will defend, tonight, the WBO Latino lightweight title. The same title was already held by the Brazilian Willian Silva, who won the belt in June of 2014, after defeating Pablo Martin Barboza, from Argentina, fighting in Capivari, São Paulo, Brazil. The Brazilian fighter has never defended his title, alleging financial issues for not being able to do it. 8- The bizarre facts of more than one boxer having the same belt aren’t an exclusivity of WBA and IBF. Even with Verdejo defending actively his WBO Latino belt 2 times last year, after winning the title in April, the WBO authorized Argentinian Horácio Alfredo Cabral to fight for an interim version of the title on last December. Cabral defeated his compatriot Sebastian Ezequiel Aguirre in that occasion, and will defend his interim Latino title on next week, against German Argentino Benitez. 9- The trainers of tonight’s fight were born in the same place of birth that the fighters. On Verdejo’s side, we have Puerto Rican Ricky Martinez, who acts as trainer and manager. Marquez works with Verdejo since the young boxer started his career, at 9 years old. On the other side, Willian Silva will have in his corner Brazilian Aluísio Silva, his father, who have always trained him. His other trainer is another Brazilian: Gabriel de Oliveira, who is Servílio de Oliveira’s son. 10- The betting exchanges show a big favoritism for Verdejo. Some odds are paid in proportions of 60-1. As we discussed earlier this week, betting on Willian Silva may bring a good risk/return ratio… http://round13.com.br/?pg=conteudo&artigo=262