By James Slater – Spare a thought for gutsy warrior Bryan Vera right about now. All set to get the biggest chance of his pro career by way of a fight with former middleweight king Kelly Pavlik – on a huge stage, before millions of fans – Vera gets the news that “The Ghost” has done a disappearing act and will not be able to fight on Nov. 13th.
Of course it’s not Pavlik’s fault he damaged his ribs (although some fans have asked aloud whether or not there may be more to Kelly’s withdrawal than his ribcage, such as a problem he may or may not have with alcohol), but it’s still easy to understand Vera’s anger at the former champ. And the tough Texan has gone as far as to question the validity of Pavlik’s injury himself..
Speaking with WKBN.com, the 28-year-old with the 17-5(11) record said Team-Pavlik should have and would have said they were injured long before they did if they were pros, and that he thinks there may be weight issues on the part of Pavlik.
“I thought he was a world class fighter,” Vera said of Pavlik to WKBN.com. “Right now it doesn’t seem like he’s acting like one, to be pulling out this late to the fight. If he was hurt, they would’ve said something right away. I think maybe he’s having problems with weight or something. If he was a man of his word he’d get ready and fight no matter what.”
Vera, who was working extremely hard in the gym for his big chance, says he feels people may have as tough a time as he will in forgiving Pavlik for pulling out of this fight.
“It doesn’t look good,” he said. “His reputation is already kind of down a little by him doing this in the past. I think a lot of people are looking down on him right now.”
And Vera’s trainer, David Watson, spoke of how he and his fighter, the whole team, will not now get paid a penny, due to the fight being scrapped.
“All we’ve done is prepare to beat Kelly Pavlik,” Watson said. “We’ve been training now for eight weeks and then they pretty much pulled the carpet out from under my fighter. We were getting paid a substantial amount but because Kelly Pavlik pulled out, we get nothing. This is the bad part of boxing.”
Pavlik, too, is said to be extremely upset at what has happened, it must be said. And with big fights potentially out there for him – against Sergio Martinez in a rematch, or Lucian Bute at a catch-weight – the last thing the Youngstown man needs is more inactivity. However, there is a chance, Watson says, that Top Rank can save the Pavlik-Vera fight. According to the web site article, there is a 30 day option in the contract that could allow the bout to be rescheduled within 90 days of the original fight.
One hopes Vera will still get the huge opportunity he has worked so hard for. Let us also wish Pavlik a speedy recovery.