By Miguel Rivera

Puerto Rican lightweight contender Felix "Diamante" Verdejo will receive a final shot at redemption from Top Rank.

The Olympian was widely viewed as a rising superstar at one point, but now his career is in limbo after several lackluster performances and suffering his first defeat last year.

On April 20, Verdejo will face former world champion Bryan Vásquez in a WBA final eliminator. The contest will open up the ESPN Pay-Per-View card, which has Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan as the headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Another defeat with Vasquez could be the end of Verdejo's run with Top Rank.

A win would put Verdejo in line for a world title shot.

"It's now or never. It's what he is facing now. Because he has been disappointed lately and we all know it. He looked like an emerging star and then he didn't. Now he has the opportunity to become a rising star again," Arum said to Antolin Rios.

"That is a significant fight for Verdejo against Vasquez. It's for the WBA lightweight gold title. The winner of that fight will be the mandatory challenger for the WBA lightweight title . So it's really a great step for him to win this fight.

"The reports that I have of Felix is ??that he is really serious this time. I've been in boxing a long time. It wasn't just me seeing Verdejo [as a future star] and his great talent, because I could be wrong. I knew the talent that Verdejo had. And obviously we were not going to give up on someone who has so much talent of that magnitude. He started (his career) very strong. He had some disappointments, but now that he says he is again focused and dedicated to his career, I think he can really be great. And this is the fight in which he can follow one path or the other."