"I feel good, man. I came right into camp at 173-174, so my weight was good. We are fighting this fight at 163, so I got to stay in shape and all of this stuff they want me to do, I'm able to do it without feeling too bad and not being exhausted. I'm able to jump right in there on it. That's the way I like it anyway, man...I'm just ready to get back on the scene," stated middleweight contender Bryan Vera, who talked about his future plans and much more. Check it out!
PC: You coming up again soon in your backyard. Tell us about it?
BV: Yeah man, October 26th in Austin. It made perfect sense for all of us. We finally get to fight back in Austin. It's been like 5 years, so I was talking to Ronnie about it and he got some of the guys and we put my little brother on it and a whole bunch of guys, so everything worked out perfect.
PC: We see the Peterson Brothers do it all of the time, but how is it for you to fight on the same card as your little brother?
BV: To me, it's good. I got a lot of confidence in him. As long as I know he's in the gym trainingÂ…we got different trainers, so as long as I know they giving him 100% and he's giving them 100%, I know he will be good. Shit, I don't really worry about it too much. I got a lot of confidence in him and I know he's going to put that work in.
PC: You and Ronnie Shields are on your third fight together as fighter and trainer. Is the chemistry getting there?
BV: It's going a lot better. We are starting to understand each other, and not only is he my trainer, but you can talk to him about anything. But really man, he just makes you work. He puts that work in and he's not gonna sugarcoat nothing. If you do something good, he will tell you, and if you look ugly one day, he will tell you that you look bad. He's not trying to favor nobody and we need that.
PC: You have a new training situation out there. Tell us about it?
BV: Ah, it's great; Plex Performance. They got everything, like 8 strength guys there, but they are all top notch. They have NFL football players and basketball players work out there. But they put all of the boxers in one spot. Like Mike Lee works out there and we all get together and they put us through an hour and forty five minutes of work. We do agility and strength and conditioning and everything. We do our boxing in the morning and then we come back at 3 and do our strength and conditioning. So everybody is on the same page, man. They had Edwin Rodriguez and he looked amazing in his last fight. He went through their whole program. He is like one of the first ones to go through the whole program and it turned out good.
PC: Did you have a chance to work with Edwin at all since you've been with Ronnie?
BV: Yeah! The last fight we did, we were in the same camp at the same time, but then his fight got canceled and he had to leave and come back. But we did get to work together for a little while. But we put in good work. I was trying to put a lot of pressure on him and he likes to box, so we definitely helped each other out.
PC: There hasn't been a lot of time between camps. I know that is something you enjoy, staying active. How does your body feel going right back into it?
BV: I feel good, man. I came right into camp at 173-174, so my weight was good. We are fighting this fight at 163, so I got to stay in shape and all of this stuff they want me to do, I'm able to do it without feeling too bad and not being exhausted. I'm able to jump right in there on it. That's the way I like it anyway, man. I wish it would have been like that a long time ago, but everything happens for a reason.
PC: You will probably never fight another Sergio Mora again stylistically because he's so awkward. How much do you know about your opponent for the 26th?
BV: Honestly, this dude is like 9-6 and he's not supposed to be anybody, but he got like 7 knockouts, so he can punch a little bit. He's never fought against the caliber of guys I fought, but he got two hands like I do, so I gotta train hard. He gonna come into my hometown with nothing to lose and anytime you're fighting a guy like that, you gotta be even more ready. We have fought close, like San Antonio and Fort Worth, and they are considered my hometown too because it's around the area, but this is really my hometown, so it will be a lot more going on. It's nothing that I'm going to let get to me.
PC: Is this your last fight of the year or is December a possibility?
BV: We were talking about it earlier and talking about getting something in at the end of December with these same guys. I don't have a contract with them or nothing; they just love boxing and they are a part of my team, so they wanna keep it going until we get the big call. I would like to, but we will see how everything plays out, and talk to Ronnie and see how he feels about it.
PC: You have worked with both Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez in the past. Did that fight go the way you expected it to go based on your experience with both guys?
BV: I expected Chavez to impose his size and strength early and it seemed like he was just waiting and sitting back, and then when he did at the end, that's kind of what I expected from the beginning and it worked for him, but it was like he couldn't get off. It's not like Sergio Martinez was doing anything crazy crazy. He was potshotting and doing his thing; it just seemed like Chavez was holding back and he waited too long to get started. So I expected what happened late to happen early, and of course I thought Chavez would win the fight and that didn't happen.
PC: Best of luck to you in a few weeks. Is there anything you want to say before I let you go?
BV: Thank you Percy, and I think King Mo is supposed to come down here and work out with us and stuff; that would be good. I know he's busy right now though, so we will see. I want everybody to know that they can follow me on Twitter @BVWarrior and get to know me a little more. I want to thank everybody I'm just ready to get back on the scene. I gotta thank Icon Production Group for putting on this "Destined for Greatness" card and tickets can be purchased at www.ticketriver.com.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrFighthype ]