Felix Verdejo vs. Oliver Flores: In August of last year Felix Verdejo (22-0, 15 KO) ESPN's 2014 Prospect of the Year was involved in a motorcycle accident. That accident would put Verdejo in the hospital delayed a world title shot he seemed to be on the verge of. Now Verdejo is back and on Friday he will take on Oliver Flores (27-2-2, 17 KO) in a 10-round bout from the lightweight division that will air on UniMas. While 2014 was a big year for Verdejo in some of his fights in 2015 and 2016 he didn't look as spectacular as he previously had which is why it will be important for him to look good against Flores who is fresh off a loss and has been knocked out early by his two best opponents, Miguel Berchelt and Takashi Uchiyama. Verdejo is an athletic fighter who works out of the orthodox stance. He is a boxer-puncher and while he is certainly popular he is still hoping to become Puerto Rico's next true superstar. Fighting behind an accurate jab that Verdejo uses to set up his power punches he also moves well in the ring. His fast hands allow him to find success on offense and he has a mean left hook along with a very good right hand, albeit one that can be wild at times. When Verdejo is on his game his mixture of skills and power make him a tough out for anyone but he has shown a slight tendency to fight down to his level of competition. Against Flores, Verdejo will also have a height and reach advantage he would be wise to use. Flores is a southpaw whose two career losses have both been via the knockout. Flores likes to use his jab as a measuring stick and doesn't put much behind it, instead focusing on landing his left hand. Besides a weak jab and decent left hand Flores doesn't have much of anything else and the fact that he rarely changes his looks up and seems to always come straight forward could make for an easy night for Verdejo. In his two career losses Flores was knocked out in the second and third rounds. While Verdejo won't finish him off that quickly it won't take him much longer and he will knockout Flores in the fourth round.
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