After his controversial decision loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr last September, the proverbial chip on Brian Vera’s shoulder has continued to grow.
“I am going to beat him for the second time. Everyone knows I won the first fight” said Vera at his media day workout.
Even though Vera threw 400 plus more punches than his swollen and bloodied opponent, the judges somehow saw it has a victory for Chavez Jr. — even though he failed to make the target weight of 168. Now the rematch is set this Saturday night as both men meet again, but this time it will be in Vera’s backyard as San Antonio plays host to HBO’s World Championship boxing.
Let’s take a closer look at this highly anticipated rematch.
Brian Vera (23-7, 14KOs)
The last time we were here we figured Vera’s best shot of winning was to stick and move while avoiding any big exchanges with the much larger Chavez Jr. Surprisingly, Vera found his most success by being who he usually is, and that’s an aggressive volume puncher.
Vera must anticipate a better conditioned Chavez Jr. this time around. Surely the Mexican star will be looking to prove a point by being far more aggressive while stalking his opponent so Vera must keep that stick and move mentality at the forefront of his game plan.
While beating Chavez Jr. to the punch, Vera must move around the ring as much as possible to tire his opponent as he looks to capitalize on his mistakes. Vera is the much better pure boxer of the two so don’t be surprised if we see Vera set the pace with his jab early.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (47-1-1, 32KOs)
Armed with a granite chin, Chavez Jr. has impressive power and a remarkable ability to fight inside.
On the other hand the biggest knock on Chavez Jr. has always been that his pace from the opening bell takes too long to get going, which was clearly evident the last time these two met up. Chavez Jr. must cut the ring off as early and often as possible. From there he can unleash his devastating body attack to the much smaller Vera.
The most important key for Chavez Jr. in this fight is to just stay busy. If he can at least double his punch output from the last fight he’ll most likely find success.
The Bottom Line
According to Bodog, Chavez (-500) is the favorite against the man thought to have won the last fight, Vera(+350).
There are many questions leading up to this fight:
– Will Chavez Jr. make weight this time around?
– Was Vera’s last performance somewhat of a fluke?
– Will we hopefully have more competent judges?
Whatever the case may be you can bet that we have a war upon our hands.
Zachary Hutton is the lead boxing writer and an MMA contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can see what he’s up to at his band’s website myunclethewolf.com or also subscribe onFacebook.
