Brian Vera

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Brian Vera
Statistics
Real name Bryan Lee Vera
Rated at Super Middleweight
Middleweight
Light Middleweight
Height 6 ft 0 in (184 cm)
Reach 74 in (189 cm)
Nationality United States American
Born (1981-12-28) December 28, 1981
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 30
Wins 23
Wins by KO 14
Losses 7
Draws 0
No contests 0

Bryan Lee Vera (born December 28, 1981 in Fort Worth, Texas, United States) is a Mexican-American boxer in the super middleweight division. He trains in Cedar Park, Texas.[1] He is best known his memorable and notable victories over then-undefeated Andy Lee in 2008, former WBC Super Welterweight Champion Sergio Mora (twice (once in 2011 and once in 2012)) and Serhiy Dzinziruk in 2013.

Personal

Bryan attended Westwood High School and lettered in football, a sport he had played since a child in Pop Warner. His brother, Gilbert "Boogie" Vera is also a professional boxer[2][3] and his father was a two-time IBA champion in the heavyweight division.[4]

Amateur career

Vera's amateur career saw him clash with (among others), Jonathon Banks (in a losing effort), and then saw him returning in December 2005 (after beginning his professional career in 2004), when he returned for one last amateur fight against Ivan Stovell (in a losing effort).

Professional career

Vera began his professional career in 2004 and would go onto get some big wins over Etienne Whitaker and Samuel Miller.

The Contender

He is one of the featured boxers on the third season of the boxing reality TV series, The Contender, which premiered September 4, 2007, on ESPN.[5] Vera suffered his first professional loss in the opening fight of the contest to the shows runner-up Jaidon Codrington.[6]

Life after The Contender

In 2008, Vera fought then-undefeated and highly touted prospect Andy Lee. In a fight that he was supposed to lose according to most critics, Brian Vera pulled up the upset win and would defeat Lee by TKO in the seventh round. Though the TKO was questionable by many, Andy Lee's face was beaten and swollen compared to Vera's face which had no bruising whatsoever.

Following his big win over Lee, Vera was stopped and violently beaten by middleweight contender James Kirkland for eight gruesome rounds. Kirkland was busier than Vera and was landing the better and much more powerful punches. And in the eighth round Kirkland came out winging bodyshots ands Vera was throwing rights, Kirkland countered with punch combinations that sent Vera down for the third time of the fight. A few seconds later Kirkland was battering him in the corner and the referee jumped in to stop the fight.[7]

Just 6 months later, he was easily outpointed for 10 rounds by the Scottish up-and-coming fighter Craig McEwan. In almost every round, McEwan would flash new stuff that made it difficult for Vera. One round it was lead lefts. Another round, it was fighting well with his back against the ropes. In another round, it was the uppercut from the outside. Although McEwan would trade with Vera in the 7th to try and give Vera a chance of winning, McEwan still got the better of the exchanges. By the tenth Vera was tired from all the punches McEwan landed and all the punches he'd thrown (regardless of whether they landed or not) but would survive the round and lose an easy-McEwan unanimous decision.[8]

On an ESPN Friday Night Fights headliner, Vera scored a victory that helped determine his presence in the Middleweight division when he defeated fellow Contender participant and former World Champion Sergio Mora with a hard-fought 10 round decision. Mora was coming off of September's disputed, split-decision draw with 39-year-old three-division, five-time titlist Shane Mosley. His superior strengths were what gave him the advantage in this bout, with scores of 96-94 for Vera were all registered by all three judges.[9]

Following weeks after the fight his promoter, Lou DiBella, reported that Vera would face Lee in a rematch when Lee defeated Craig McEwan. Vera was completely dominated from the 1st round onward in a practical shutout in the rematch against Lee, having also been dropped in the 2nd round and again in the 6th (however the referee ruled the supposed knock-down in the sixth round, a slip).[10] He would then go onto to lose the rematch to Lee via clear unanimous decision. Then on April 21, 2012, Vera managed to bounce back and score his 20th career victory as a professional boxer, defeating Taronze Washington by unanimous decision after 8 rounds. He would then re-ignite his career in a tremendous manner, when he defeated Sergio Mora in a re-match by majority decision on August 11, 2012.

He followed his career re-ignition by putting the boxing world on notice with a dominating tenth-round TKO of Ukrainian boxing sensation: Serhiy Dzinziruk, on January 25, 2013. On September 28, 2013, Vera faced Julio César Chávez, Jr. Chávez struggled with the weight before the fight and he hardly reached the 172 pounds for a fight pacted in 168 pounds. The night of the fight he came out with 186 pounds. Chávez threw a very few power punches while Vera dominated the fight. In the late rounds, the face of Chávez was swollen and had a cut on his nose, while Vera's face hardly showed any signs. Chávez won by a controversial unanimous decision. Chávez threw 320 punches, while Vera threw 734. The decision was heavily criticized by the audience.

Professional Record

23 Wins (14 Knockouts, 9 Decisions), 7 Losses, 0 Draws
Res. Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 23-7 Mexico Julio Cesar Chavez Jr UD 10 2013-09-28 United States StubHub Center, Carson, California, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 23-6 Lithuania Donatas Bondorovas RTD 7 (10) 2013-03-29 United States Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA Retained WBO NABO Middleweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 22-6 Ukraine Serhiy Dzinziruk TKO 10 (12) 2013-01-25 United States Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA Retained WBO NABO Middleweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 21-6 United States Sergio Mora MD 12 2012-08-11 United States Illusions Theater, San Antonio, Texas, USA Won vacant WBO NABO Middleweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 20-6 United States Taronze Washington UD 8 2012-04-21 United States Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA Won vacant WPBF International Middleweight Title.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 19-6 Republic of Ireland Andy Lee UD 10 2011-10-01 United States Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 19-5 Mexico Eloy Suarez KO 8 (8) 2011-06-24 United States Dr Pepper Arena, Frisco, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 18-5 United States Sergio Mora SD 10 2011-02-04 United States Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 17-5 Ukraine Max Bursak UD 12 2010-09-04 Ukraine Sportpalace Meteor, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 17-4 Canada Sebastien Demers TKO 3 (10) 2010-06-11 Canada Uniprix Stadium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 16-4 Brazil Isaac Rodrigues MD 10 2010-02-26 United States Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 16-3 Scotland Craig McEwan UD 10 2009-05-08 United States Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 16-2 United States James Kirkland TKO 8 (10) 2008-11-22 United States MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 16-1 Republic of Ireland Andy Lee TKO 7 (10) 2008-03-21 United States Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 15-1 United States Max Alexander UD 6 2007-11-06 United States TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 14-1 United States Jaidon Codrington KO 2 (5) 2007-09-08 United States Contender Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA Fight aired as part of ESPN2's "The Contender" series.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 14-0 United States Darnell Boone UD 10 2007-06-15 United States Chevrolet Centre, Youngstown, Ohio, USA Retained IBA Intercontinental Super Middleweight Title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 13-0 Colombia Samuel Miller MD 10 2007-05-11 United States Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 12-0 United States Etianne Whitaker TKO 3 (10) 2006-11-04 United States Coushatta Casino Resort, Kinder, Louisiana, USA Won Vacant IBA Intercontinental Super Middleweight Title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 11-0 Mexico Antonio Garcia KO 3 (8) 2006-08-18 United States American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 10-0 United States Marcus Hicks TKO 5 (8) 2006-06-09 United States Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas, USA Won vacant USA Texas State Middleweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 9-0 Mexico Antonio Garcia UD 8 2006-02-16 United States Cowtown Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 8-0 United States Jeremiah Chapman KO 2 (6) 2005-12-16 United States Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 7-0 United States Cardyl Finley KO 1 (8) 2005-11-26 United States Music Hall, Austin, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 6-0 United States Freeman Taft TKO 2 (6) 2005-07-22 United States Gold Coast Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 5-0 United States Trenice Brown TKO 3 (6) 2005-06-16 United States Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 4-0 United States Javier Diaz UD 4 2005-03-17 United States Cowtown Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 3-0 United States Juan Jose Ruiz TKO 2 (4) 2005-02-26 United States Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 2-0 United States Bert Montez TKO 2 (4) 2004-09-30 United States Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 1-0 United States Avien Cooper UD 4 2004-08-27 United States Renaissance Worthington Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional Debut.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hillcountrynews.com/sports/article_0ba37bac-2f18-11e0-ad1c-001cc4c03286.html
  2. ↑ http://www.uterwincenter.com/applause/2007/may07ap/TTF.html
  3. ↑ http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=361201&cat=boxer
  4. ↑ http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=28124&cat=boxer
  5. ↑ http://www.itv.com/Sport/boxing/TheContender/MeetTheContenders/BrianVera/default.html
  6. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3014777
  7. ↑ "Kirkland hammers Vera". Team Talk. 
  8. ↑ "Craig McEwan Passes The Brian Vera Test, Adrien Broner Gets Lucky". Queens Berry - Rules. 
  9. ↑ "Bryan Vera upsets Sergio Mora, wins ten round decision". Boxing Scene. 
  10. ↑ "Quick Hits". ESPN. 

External links

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