Chavez Jr. Tops Vera in rematch, Salido derails Lomanchenko!
Photos: Chris Farina/Top Rank
A motivated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1, 32 KOs) easily made weight on Friday and stepped in the ring determined to leave no doubt in his rematch with Bryan Vera (23-8, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
An outgunned Vera did all he could but it was clear the his biggest assets in the fight were his granite chin and huge heart. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn’t be enough. Chavez’ size and strength prevailed, dominating the action and walking through all of Vera’s offense with out flinching. After 12 rounds of action, Chavez would win a well-deserved unanimous decision with scores of 114-113 and 117-110 twice.
“This time I prepared to win round by round and not to make weight. A week before I was on weight and I was able to work. Losing the weight wasn’t a problem” Said Chavez Jr. who also stated that he would like a rematch with Sergio Martinez should he get past Cotto. He is also interested in a fight with Gennady Golovkin “I like that fight because Gennady Golovkin is a great fighter, a strong fighter. He’s undefeated. One of the best in the middleweight division. I’d like to fight Gennady Golovkin next.”
” I found out four days ago that it was a twelve round fight. We trained for a ten-rounder. It’s always something when we come to these fucking fights” said Vera “But I’m a fighter and I always give people a great fight”
In the co-feature, two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1, 1 KO) was denied in his attempt to win a world title in just his second pro fight. His opponent, former world champion and cagey veteran Orlando “Siri” Salido (41-12-2, 28 KOs) turned the fight into an gritty brawl as he pummeled Lomanchenko’s midsection with vicious shots that often strayed low. Salido beat up Lomanchenko’s legs and thighs and took an early lead. The Ukrainian did his fair share of holding throughout the contest but turned up the heat in the twelfth and final round, hurting Salido with a lead left hand. He followed up with a body attack and Salido was forced to hold on for dear life. In the end, Salido would find himself ahead on the two deciding cards, 115-113 and 116-112. Lomachenko was ahead 115-113 on the third card.
“It was a tough fight but we knew that he was young and fast but we knew what we had to do to win” Said Salido “Be intelligent, measure his punches so we could counter.
Salido lost his WBO featherweight title on the scale Friday when he failed to make weight and seemingly ran out of gas late in the fight.
“It’s been 12 years at 126 and my body just could no longer do it” Said Salido “He did hurt me (in the 12th round) but we were able to continue”
“I tried, I did my best but it didn’t work out said a disappointed Lomanchenko “I don’t want to say anything about the judges, I’m a fighter and my job is to fight.”
Lomanchenko was gracious in his defeat. He was given every opportunity in the post fight interview but refused to make any excuse for the loss.
“I don’t like dirty fights, I’m a straight fighter and that’s why I did’t (retaliate with low blows) Lomanchenko said in response to the numerous shots below the belt. “I believed I could beat him even if he was a bigger fighter, It’s all in the head”