Tracking Felix Verdejo's Progress to Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto

[-PBP-]

Thought about this the other day and figured...why not? Though 20 fights, this is how the 3 Puerto Rican stars fared:


Felix Trinidad:

Record of Opponents in First 20 Fights: 202-84-11
First World Title Fight: Fight #20

Current/Former/Future Champions/Contenders Faced (2):

Maurice Blocker (34-3)
Jake Rodriguez (16-1-2)


Miguel Cotto

Record of Opponents in First 20 Fights: 413-133-14
First World Title Fight: Fight #21

Current/Former/Future Champions/Contenders Faced (9):

Joel Perez (34-5-2)
Justin Jukko (36-6-1)
John Brown (23-9-0)
Cesar Bazan (39-5-1)
Rocky Martinez (38-8-1)
Demetrio Ceballos (26-4-0)
Carlos Maussa (20-5-0)
Victoriano Sosa (37-3-2)
Lovemore Ndou (38-6-1)

Felix Verdejo

Record of Opponents in First 20 Fights: 227-65-10
First World Title Fight: N/A

Current/Former/Future Champions/Contenders Faced (0)


As you can see, Miguel Cotto had the hardest upbringing of the 3 Puerto Rican stars but Verdejo's opposition is similar to Trinidad. So with all of those people criticizing his opposition. Be patient.

Hopefully he will start to face world level opposition this year so we can get a better gauge of his potential.

[aldo5408]

Great thread

Just goes to the difference between Cotto and verdejo hes only fought no hopers. Even danny garcia had it tougher

[-PBP-]

Great thread

Just goes to the difference between Cotto and verdejo hes only fought no hopers. Even danny garcia had it tougher

I forgot how they put Cotto on the fast track. Nearly half his first 20 fighters were against former world champions or contenders.

[aldo5408]

I forgot how they put Cotto on the fast track. Nearly half his first 20 fighters were against former world champions or contenders.

Yea and its funny how people criticize him now. Also I know danny isn't consider a Rican but I actually believe he has also had a tougher start than Verdojo. Maybe you should include Danny in your OP just a suggestion that's all

[Anton Chigurh]

The record of Verdejo's opponents is very misleading. His record is full of bums with fancy records.

Bob Arum is really doing Felix Verdejo a disservice by babying him. He's going to end up getting laid out when he steps up.

Ivan Najera's 16-0 record, Josenilson Dos Santos' 27-3 record, and William Silva's 23-0 record might fool some of the goofballs on here, but anyone that knows anything sees those opponents as what they are, trash.

[SlySlickSmooth]

Who is there for him to keep fighting at Lightweight?

Petr Petrov?

Michael Farenas (some Filipino fighter) would be a good fight too. Farenas likes to use range and has a good straight left. Farenas has fought former/current champion(s).

[-PBP-]

The record of Verdejo's opponents is very misleading. His record is full of bums with fancy records.

Bob Arum is really doing Felix Verdejo a disservice by babying him. He's going to end up getting laid out when he steps up.

Ivan Najera's 16-0 record, Josenilson Dos Santos' 27-3 record, and William Silva's 23-0 record might fool some of the goofballs on here, but anyone that knows anything sees those opponents as what they are, trash.

That's every prospect resume though. The bigger issue with Verdejo is he hasn't fought anyone with world championship experience yet. This is the point in time where Cotto and Trinidad started to enter the world stage. We'll see what Bob does this year but with 5 fights planned I don't expect much.

[SunSpace]

Cotto fought the best throughout his entire career, and somehow people still question why he'll be in the hall of fame, bringing up Mosley like if that weren't a huge win. Or like if careers should be based off of solely one win. Please. No modern fighters have faced the level of consistent challenge Cotto has. That's the truth.

[JmH Reborn]

Nice breakdown - I'm looking forward to this upcoming 2016 and see him stepping up. I hope his career takes the track of Cotto instead of Trinidad. Cotto always fights the top guys and I hope Verdejo mirror's Cotto's trajection. 2016 is a big year for Verdejo; time to step it up

[boliodogs]

He has done absolutely nothing yet to be compared to a good champion like Cotto or a great champion like Trinidad. Trinidad won the welterweight title at age 20 and defended it successfully 15 times in 6 years and he knocked out 12 of those challengers. I have been to boxrec and studied his pro record Nobody he has fought was ranked higher than 120th in the world and most of his opponents were ranked 200th or 300th. or there abouts. That is hardly the credentials of the next Trinidad or the next Cotto. He is fighting an undefeated boxer from Brazil next. That is the guy boxrec ranked the 120th best lightweight in the world because even though Silva is undefeated he never beat anybody worth a damn. Boxrec ranks Vedejo 45th in the world. Silva, the 120th best lightweight in the world will be the highest rated boxer Vedejo has fought to date. If and when Vedejo starts fighting and beating top 20 or even top 30 world rated fighters that would be the time to start comparing him to the all time great Puerto Rican boxers in my opinion. Right now he is just a promising prospect in my opinion.If you think he is going to be in the same class as Cotto and Trinidad maybe he will be. Time will tell.