Bryan Vera: Chavez looked bad at 172, I don't see him losing four more pounds

Bryan Vera was robbed last September when he faced Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at a 172-pound catchweight, which came into existence after Chavez renegotiated at least twice from 165 to 168 to 172, and though he's signed for a March 1 rematch against the Mexican star on HBO, he told BoxingScene.com that he doesn't think Chavez can make the agreed-upon 168-pound limit this time, either.

"I don't think he will make it. He looked pretty bad at 172 so I don't see him losing four more pounds but we will see," Vera stated.

As for the judging, Vera doesn't see what else he has to do to get a decision. He said that he is going to keep coming forward and try to back Chavez up.

"I am gonna make him move back and give him more looks. I will break him down," Vera told BoxingScene.com.

Vera (23-7, 14 KO) flat-out beat Chavez (47-1-1, 32 KO) in their first fight, but didn't get the scores for the usual boxing reasons -- he was the B-side opponent, brought in to lose to Chavez, who was returning from a long absence after his first pro loss, after which he failed a drug test.

This was hardly the first time that Chavez, 27, had been "given the benefit of the doubt" by judges in his career. It's quite arguable that Junior should have a handful of losses on his record already, and nobody but the ringside judges had him beating Vera.

As for Vera's concerns (if you can call them that) over Chavez making weight, there's plenty of reason for him to think that way, too. It might be easy to say that Vera is going into this with the wrong mindset -- expecting Chavez to miss weight, being unsure what more he can do to convince the judges that he deserves the win. Those things could indicate that he's showing up for the paycheck and understanding that he'll get screwed even if he again deserves the win. But I doubt that it makes him fight any less valiantly than he always does.

This is just a veteran fighter who knows the politics of the sport. And he's right -- Vera probably will have to do something really special to get the nod against Chavez if it goes to the cards, and whatever else you can say about Julio, he takes a great shot, so it's unlikely Vera will stop him inside the scheduled distance. Expect Vera to bring it just like last time. Chavez can fight better than he did, but will he?