"I would like the Golovkin fight. I would love that fight because nobody has seen him fight a guy that comes at him like he comes at everybody else. And like I told you before, I think it will be a helluva fight. I know he got a fight in March and we are looking to fight one more time in April with Banner Promotions, and then we are trying to do another ESPN fight. Then in September, they want to do an HBO fight against Golovkin if everything goes right," stated middleweight contender Bryan Vera, who talked about his recent victory, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!
PC: You recently returned to a place where you had a lot of success, which is ESPN'S Friday Night Fights, and you didn't disappoint. Big win over Serhiy Dzinziruk. Tell us about the fight! How do you feel?
BV: It went good, you know. We went in with a game plan to put a lot of pressure; we knew we were stronger in there. I really didn't expect to catch him like I did early, but I tried to get him out of there. But I know he had a lot of experience, so I didn't want to throw it all out in one round, so I took my time.
PC: Being the kind of aggressive fighter that you are, was it hard to hold back a little bit, because you really could have punched yourself out being that you hurt him so early?
BV: It was a little bit because I'm aggressive as it is and I saw the green light, and when you see a little blood, you want to jump on 'em, but I had to give him respect because he has experience and I know he can box. I was in great shape to go the whole fight, so I knew that I was going to break him down eventually, but I didn't want to go in there and go crazy and jump on him trying to get him out.
PC: Dzinziruk is a tough dude to finish and he was still dangerous. At any point of the fight, were you buzzed or hurt at all?
BV: Nah. There was a round, I believe it was the 8th round, I was catching him in the beginning or the middle of the round and I was about to try and get him out of there and he snuck a little body shot in that made me think a little bit and I stepped back. It wasn't that serious, but it made me think a little bit. It got him out of the round.
PC: Was the cut you sustained on your eye ever an issue?
BV: Nah, my cutman and my manager Dave did a good job shutting it up. It wasn't even as bad as it looked. It was just bleeding a lot, but when we got into the locker room, I didn't even have to get stitches. It was just on the outside, but for some reason, it bled more than we expected.
PC: You put on a great performance like that without your head trainer, Ronnie Shields, who was with the Charlo twins. Was it difficult to go in without your head trainer or was it okay because you had guys in your corner you were comfortable with?
BV: It wasn't that big a deal because O.J. and Dave were in my corner, and even when Ronnie is there, they are on the outside looking in. Ronnie told the people around me that he trusts me to do a good job. I been working with them guys forever, so it was more of a trust thing and I was comfortable because I been with them before. You know how it is. As long as you put the work in at the gym, when it comes to the fight, you are going to remember all of the things said.
PC: They talked about all of your upsets during the commentary of your last fight. Where does this one rank for you?
BV: As far as upsets, it's not the best one, but I think this set me up for probably what will be the biggest fight of my career. As far as the biggest upset, I would have to say Andy Lee because they had me a 7 to 1 underdog and I wasn't even supposed to do anything. That was probably the bigger upset, but as far as my career, this fight here set me up for bigger and better things.
PC: Talk us through the knockout. What did you see? And I'm happy for you that the right hand you fired when he was down didn't land because you may have gotten disqualified for that.
BV: I was catching him with shots and I think I hit him on top of the head with a left hook and he went down. I was thinking he was just slowly going down and when I reached back to throw that shot, I was waiting for the referee to come in, but I threw it and realized he was pretty much done, so if you watch it closely, I kind of pulled off a little bit. If I really wanted to hit him, I would have just jumped in and hit him, but I pulled off. I'm glad I did because they probably would have disqualified me.
PC: You said you feel this will set you up for something big. What would you like to do next?
BV: I would like the Golovkin fight. I would love that fight because nobody has seen him fight a guy that comes at him like he comes at everybody else. And like I told you before, I think it will be a helluva fight. I know he got a fight in March and we are looking to fight one more time in April with Banner Promotions, and then we are trying to do another ESPN fight. Then in September, they want to do an HBO fight against Golovkin if everything goes right.
PC: Congratulations again my man. Is there anything else you want to say or anybody you would like to thank before I let you go?
BV: I want to thank all of my supporters and friends and family from home. Gotta thank my whole team: Ronnie Shields, Dave and O.J., Plex Performance and all of those guys. But I want to thank everybody for the support and I hope I impressed a lot of people.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]