Bryan Vera (23-7, 14 KOs) will get an opportunity to redeem himself against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (47-1-1, 32 KOs) after a controversial judges' decision in September 2013 brought an end to his four-fight winning streak.
According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, a rematch at 168 pounds has been set for March 1 inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
More details surrounding the 12-round super middleweight fight will become available later this week. According to Rafael, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has scheduled a news conference for Thursday, Jan. 16 in San Antonio.
With tons of debate surrounding the legitimacy of Chavez's victory in the first fight back on Sept. 28, there's no doubt that a rematch is warranted. Although it won't change the outcome of their first meeting, Vera certainly deserves a second chance.
Unsurprisingly, Vera's promoter, Artie Pelullo was critical of the judges after the first meeting and called the result a "travesty," per Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:
The one judge had it 98-92, which basically means that Bryan Vera wasn't even in the fight and they didn't give him credit for a thing he did. They gave him no credit for the quality of the fight that he had. It's like he didn't exist. It's unbelievable. I told the commissioner [Andy Foster, of the California State Athletic Commission], 'A judge in Nevada lost her job for doing this kind of thing.' 98-92? 97-93? What are you watching?
While Pelullo is obviously biased in his assessment, you won't find many who disagree with Vera's corner, per Iole:
"Yahoo Sports scored it 96-94 for Vera, who threw nearly twice as many punches as Chavez and landed 51 more over the course of the 10-round fight."
As Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix points out, in addition to the Chavez-Vera rematch, March's card will feature an intriguing clash between Orlando Salido of Mexico and the Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko:
Salido is a three-time featherweight titlist while Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with just one professional bout under his belt.
Barring another poor performance by the judges, this upcoming card is sure to deliver.
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