"They are taking me lightly and think he's going to walk through me. They already talking about him fighting somebody after me. This has been done to me in the past many times and I upset fighters. If he's gonna do that [overlook me], he's in for a long night. We are working on a lot of things and I don't see myself coming out of there no other way than being victorious...To win is the main thing, but it will be great to try and stop him and that's why I'm here in camp early working as hard as I can, and if anything, it's going to be a war, like a Rios and Alvarado fight, but I plan on stopping him early for sure," stated middleweight contender Bryan Vera, who spoke about his upcoming September 7 clash with former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Check out what else he had to say!
PC: September 7th is the date you will be fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I see you already started preparing. How is it going?
BV: It's going real good. I can see all of the changes as far as the training and everything. We going hard now because they know that this win here will not only help me and my family, but it will help the gym and it will help everybody, so everybody on board and we working hard.
PC: The Charlo brothers have been winning at a steady rate, and so has Edwin Rodriguez. The wins have to be an indication of the type of work you guys are putting in in Texas.
BV: It's perfect because nobody has lost from the gym yet and Edwin got the guy out in the 1st round, so to me, everybody is getting a lot stronger. They get you in there and make sure you focus on the boxing, but then they make sure you get the strength and conditioning and other work. You really have no choice but to put in the work and it's showing in our fights.
PC: I saw some recent pictures of you and you look like you may have to pull back soon. You look very close to weight already.
BV: That's funny man because I was talking to "Boogie", my brother, about that and we were talking about how we have to slow down a little bit. They telling me to just keep on going, man, and keep working hard. Our body will tell us when we need to rest up. I think this is a game breaker so I want to get everything that I can in. We already started sparring a little bit; things are going good, man.
PC: On the flip side of that, your opponent, Chavez Jr., was recently photo'd at his brother's fight looking close to 200 pounds. Do you just ignore that or use it as motivation?
BV: Exactly, man. I'm using it as motivation for sure. They are taking me lightly and think he's going to walk through me. They already talking about him fighting somebody after me. This has been done to me in the past many times and I upset fighters. If he's gonna do that [overlook me], he's in for a long night. We are working on a lot of things and I don't see myself coming out of there no other way than being victorious.
PC: There were talks at one point and it appeared they were gonna go in another direction. Were you ever concerned that you might not get this opportunity?
BV: I didn't know. To me, I was just leaving it up to my manager to get it done. I was just staying in the gym and waiting. They were talking about doing a ESPN show again if he was gonna keep on playing with us, but I guess he talked to Bob Arum and squared it all out. They were talking about going to Mexico and I was even willing to go there, but everything worked out, God-willing, and we're coming back to the United States, so to me, it worked out perfect.
PC: Is it a load off of your mind that it's not in Mexico, because mentally, that in itself could have been a tough situation?
BV: It takes a big load off because I probably wasn't gonna make it back (laughing). I was gonna beat him and all them Mexicans out there wouldn't have let me go, you know what I mean? Nah, but I ain't no punk, so I was gonna go out there and get in the best shape and go beat him there. It all worked out though and it's definitely better that it's in the states now.
PC: Do you continue to watch fights that Chavez has had in the past now that he's changed his corner or do you think once the going gets tough, he will resort back to what he knows and therefore he will look like he looked in past fights?
BV: I think I will get the old version of him. And also, it's been like a year since he fought, so he gonna beÂ…I don't think he is gonna be as confident as he has in the past by not staying busy. For anybody who hasn't fought in a year, he's gonna have to get that ring rust off. We gonna get in there and make sure he doesn't get it off early. He still gotta go in there and get comfortable no matter who is training him. We still gonna go out there and put that pressure on him, but smart pressure.
PC: I know the mentality going in is to win at all cost, but would it be that much more special to be the only person to stop this kid?
BV: Oh yeah, I think about that all of the time for sure, but it's not the only thing on my mind. To win is the main thing, but it will be great to try and stop him and that's why I'm here in camp early working as hard as I can, and if anything, it's going to be a war, like a Rios and Alvarado fight, but I plan on stopping him early for sure.
PC: You have always wanted another crack at the big stage and to be in a fight of this magnitude. Now that it's here, what kind of work are you putting in to secure that win?
BV: We putting in work. I got my little brother out here with me too and I got OJ [McClintock] coming in a couple of weeks too. They are here working too and I always want to show them that I want to win. Everybody push each other here and it seems like everybody knows the magnitude of this fight and they are really pushing me, and we started early so it's only gonna get better. They are not letting me slack by any means.
PC: When you really get into your sparring, will you try to emulate the size he will be on fight night or just get some solid super middle and light heavies in?
BV: We'll definitely deal with the bigger guys. It's not so much that he's going to be stronger, but just having them lean that weight on you and things like that we can work on stepping around. But we definitely won't have no junior middleweights or anything like that; just bigger guys that will put pressure and give you that kind of look.
PC: We'll talk much more leading up to the fight. Good luck in training camp. Is there anything else you want to add?
BV: Just be ready. It's going to be fireworks. Like you said, you can tell I'm putting all of the work in. My first day of sparring was last Saturday and I've already been here two weeks, so I think all of this is just going to make for a good night. I want to thank all of my sponsors. I got quite a few, so I can't say them all, but they know who they are, so thank you very much. And be sure to tell my boy King Mo wassup and he got one coming up too, so I want to see him knock another dude out.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]