Trainer Mike Delware says that Andy Lee is next for his fighter, Bryan Vera, and gave an honest review of Vera's win last Friday on Solo Boxeo Tecate in Texas.
"He boxed and listened good, but we could have gone to the body more. I wanted to show that Bryan can box if he's trained right. He's not just a brawler, like a lot of people think he is," Delware tells Bad Left Hook.
"If everyone would take a minute and go back 10 months, they will see a totally different fighter than the one who fought Sergio Mora and Eloy Suarez. We're still improving. Now don't get me wrong, the pit bull is still in Bryan, big time. And if I need it, I'll call that out. But we haven't needed that, because he has the athletic ability and listens very well to my coaching.
"Now he doesn't have to take five to land one in hopes to eventually break down an opponent. We will still break them down and punish them, it will just be a better way of doing it. Not to scare Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Andy Lee, Kelly Pavlik, Peter Manfredo Jr or Sergio Martinez, but he's more dangerous now than before, and I've only been with him 9 months. The longer we're together the worse it's going to be for those we fight."
Vera (19-5, 12 KO) stopped Eloy Suarez in the eighth and final round on Friday, and Delware's coach is aware of how that looks with an opponent most felt would be a walkover.
"I would have liked to have gotten Suarez out a little bit earlier, but he was tough, and we needed the rounds. Bryan stayed with the game plan the whole fight. I knew we were going get him. Bryan executed the plan and the combo that dropped him perfectly."
Delware recently made a challenge to WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and is doing so once again.
"All we are asking for is a shot. Bryan always has a fan friendly fight, even in a loss. There will be no more losses. I don't think Chavez wants anything to do with us. But Chavez vs Vera at the Alamodome in San Antonio would sell out. It would be a war."
With Chavez likely to face Peter Manfredo Jr on November 19, Vera and Delware aren't waiting. Vera looks likely to square up for a rematch with Andy Lee. Back in 2008, Vera stunned audiences with a stoppage of Lee in a brutal battle on ESPN. Three years later, the rematch appears to be on, and Delware respects Lee's willingness to take the fight.
"It looks like Andy Lee is the only man tough enough to say to Bryan, as my great friend Mills Lane used to say, 'Let's get it on!'"