I said that Verdejo could not improve. He actually looked better in the first 6 rounds with great counters. After that he resorted to the same thing, gassed out and got KOed. The last knockdown looked more like he quit.
Masayoshi Nakatani provided the latest example of a fight never being over until it's truly over. The long and lean lightweight scored one of the year's most surprising results, recovering from two knockdowns to score two of his own in a stunning 9th round knockout of Felix Verdejo. Nakatani floored Verdejo twice in round nine, the latter producing a stoppage at 1:45 of round nine Saturday evening live on ESPN from The Bubble at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. [Click Here To Read More]
So much respect for that man, that was an inspring win. Round 7 and up can all be round of the year.
Even though he won, Nakatani may have taken the worse of it.
Hats off to both guys. Verdejo was very dangerous early on, put up a great performance but came up short.
I think Nakatani would probably crush him at this stage. Richard is a good fighter but I think his punch resistance might be compromised for good at this point. I think about his fights with Beltran and Lopez, and how he reacted when hit with power. Compare that with Nakatani getting cracked with heavy shots by Lopez and Verdejo. Even when he was dropped, he got back up and didn't seem discombobulated.
It would be a violent matchup but I think it might be one-sided.
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