?If not you, then who? If not now, then when???Hillel the Elder
What with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. canceling his September 7 bout with Brian Vera because of a booboo and Gennady Golovkin in need of a dance partner for early November, why not Golovkin vs. Vera? A suggestion of fellow boxing writer Jimmy Tobin, and a damn good one. True, the bout probably wouldn?t last more than two or three rounds, with Vera cozying up to the canvas, but what fun while it did.
Thirty-one-year-old Golovkin (27-0, 24 KOs), a seven-year pro, hasn?t won by mere decision since defeating Amar Amari in 2008. The Kazakh continued his kayo streak in 2012, stopping Makoto Fuchigami by third-round TKO in May and Grzegorz Proksa by fifth-round TKO in September, and throughout this year, stopping Gabriel Rosado by seventh-round TKO in January, Nobuhiro Ishida by third-round KO in March, and Matthew Macklin by third-round KO in June.
No-frills Vera, 31 (23-6, 14 KOs), who turned pro nine years ago, fought twice in 2012, beating Taronze Washington by unanimous decision in April and Sergio Mora by majority decision in August. The Texan?s fought twice this year, stopping Serhiy Dzinziruk by 10th-round TKO in January and retiring Donatas Bondorovas in the seventh in March.
Vera?s been decisioned four times?by Craig McEwan in 2009, Isaac Rodrigues in 2010, Max Bursak the same year, and Andy Lee in 2011?and stopped twice, by Jaidon Codrington via second-round KO in 2007 and James Kirkland via eighth-round TKO in 2008.
Third stoppage courtesy of Golovkin in November? Maybe. One thing?s for sure?unlike a boxer who shall remain nameless but whose initials are Curtis Stevens, Vera has the stones to get in the ring with phenom Golovkin, the hardest-hitting middleweight on the face of the planet.
