NEW YORK  -- Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight world champion NICHOLAS "Axe Man" WALTERS of Jamaica, and the boxing gem of Puerto Rico, undefeated No. 3 world-rated lightweight contender FELIX "El Diamante" VERDEJO will headline, in separate bouts, a world championship card in New York during Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend. With 34 knockout victories between them, fireworks are all but assured for this event which will take place Saturday, June 13, in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.  Photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank.

Both will be facing undefeated opponents.  Walters, who is in the third year of his championship reign, will defend his world title against Top-10 contender MIGUEL "The Scorpion" MARRIAGA of Colombia.  Verdejo, in his live HBO debut, will make the first defense of his newly-won World Boxing Organization (WBO) Latino lightweight title against IVAN "Bam Bam" NAJERA, of San Antonio, TX.  Both fights will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The four gladiators boast a perfect combined record of 78-0 (60 KOs), which includes a victory by knockout ratio of 77%.   

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with All Star Boxing, Tecate and Madison Square Garden.  Tickets Priced at $205, $105 and $55, tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com .  

Walters (25-0, 21 KOs), from Montego Bay, Jamaica, has won 11 of his last 12 fight by stoppage.  He captured the vacant WBA featherweight title on December 12, 2012, knocking out Daulis Presscott (26-1, 19 KOs) in the seventh round. He has successfully defended the title three times -- all by knockout -- stopping Alberto Garza, former two-division world champion Vic Darchinyan and 2012 Fighter of the Year and former four-division world champion Nonito Donaire in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, respectively.  A former amateur standout who collected gold medals at the 2007 Pan American Games Qualifier III and the  2005 and 2007 Caribbean Championships, Walters is known for his expert boxing skills and movement and two-fisted punching power that are at a caliber of a much higher weight class.

 Marriaga (20-0, 18 KOs), from Arjona, Colombia, enters this fight having won 12 of his previous 13 fights by way of knockout with 14 of his 18 knockouts coming in four rounds or less.  Fighting mainly in Colombia and Mexico, Marriaga's sole U.S. bout was last October in Santa Monica, a sixth-round knockout of Christopher Martin in a fight that televised nationally via ESPN's Friday Night Fights.  He is current;y world-rated No. 9 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).  This will be the second time he has faced Walters.  Marriaga defeated Walters in a 2008 Olympic qualifier. 

Verdejo (17-0, 13 KOs), from San Juan, Puerto Rico, ended 2014 as a consensus "Prospect of the Year," and enters 2015 as a contender to be reckoned with.  He returns to the ring having won seven of his last eight fights inside the distance, including his most recent victory, a fifth round knockout of Marco Lopez, on April, 25, for the vacant WBO Latino lightweight title.  Already world-rated No. 3 by the WBA, Verdejo, 21, continues to develop into a major gate attraction, producing standing room only crowds every time he fights.  A former amateur standout who represented Puerto Rico in the 2012 Olympics, Verdejo has been mentored by Puerto Rican boxing icon and Hall of Fame inductee Felix Trinidad.

Najera (16-0, 8 KOs), from San Antonio, TX, is known for his crowd-pleasing aggressive style of fighting and good punching power.  Texas boxing fans have been flocking to his fights because he delivers all-action performances.  Najera made his national television debut on February 7, winning a unanimous decision over veteran Robbie Cannon in Najera's toughest professional fight to date.