Vera: I want Lee’s ranking

28 March 2011 – Jonny Stapleton

Bryan Vera is determined to prove his victory over Irish middleweight Andy Lee wasnt a fluke, when pair meet again later this year.

The Texan is the only blotch on the Emmanuel Steward-trained boxers fight CV and Lee has been very vocal about wanting a rematch since he was stopped by Vera.

And it seems the Limerick man may get his wish, as Vera confirmed to www.irish-boxing.com that talks regarding an HBO-aired return bout are already underway.

Vera, who is coming off a career best performance against Sergio Mora, is a little put out by Lees claims illness hampered his performance when the pair last meet.

The former Contender contestant believes he was a deserved winner when the pair last met and claims he will prove that by defeating the Irish southpaw in that rematch.

Vera admits that he believes Lee, who displayed heart and courage as he stopped Scot Craig McEwan in his last outing, is on the world title path, but wants to hijack the Irish fighters title dreams when they meet.

The fight is in the pipeline. It is a bout Andy said he would love and its one I would love too. Our management teams are trying to get it together, Vera told www.irish-boxing.com.

I am confident I can beat him again. I have improved since we met and I am getting better and better. My last performance against Sergio Mora proves that. I will beat Andy but it wont be as wild and crazy this time round. I will be more controlled and I will break him down.

He has been linked with a world title fight of late and he is ranked highly. He deserves a world title shot in my opinion. I want to rob his rankings though and I want to be the one talked about as a potential world champion. That is great motivation for me going into the fight. So is the fact that he said he was unwell last time we fought. If Andy Lee wasnt ready to fight me why didnt he pull out? He looked good in the opening rounds but I think I wore him down over the middle rounds and deserved to win.