By Austin Killeen January 28, 2016

Photos by Stacey Berbeek, Aptitude Photography, Lucio Quintero  (Click on thumbnails for larger images.)

There’s an axiom in boxing that if you pit a Mexican against a Puerto Rican you’ll have a great fight. Salvador Sanchez KO8 Wilfredo Gomez, Felix Trinidad KO12 Fernando Vargas, Sixto Escobar KO9 Rodolfo “Baby” Casanova, Orlando Salido KO8 Juan Manuel Lopez, Julio Cesar Chavez KO11 Edwin Rosario and Wilfredo Gomez KO5 Carlos Zarate are entered as evidence to support this axiom. So what do you get when you have an outstanding prospect whose mother is Mexican and father is Puerto Rican; a boxer who fights with himself? What I do know is undefeated John “The Phenom” Vera has put himself in the fast lane, having signed a promotional contract with Roy Jones promotions, Inc. John’s first fight under his new banner takes place on CBS Sports February 19th at the Winnavegas Casino and Resort in Sloan, Iowa.

John took his first breath on September 19, 1988 in Forth Worth, Texas and has resided there his entire life. As an eleven year old, with a group of his friends, he entered a local boxing gym for the first time. As he and his peers stepped into the ring to get a taste of leather, a thinning of the heard started to take place. Vera soon found himself the only remaining pugilist from the original group. As a twelve year old John had his first amateur bout, having his hand raised in victory. “I weighed all of eighty eight pounds and stood five feet eight inches tall. I liked boxing but was also playing football in middle school, as a wide receiver. I was a typical teenager with a lot of interest and for a while stepped away from the square circle.”

During our interview John disclosed that he was raised by his mother and that his father was not part of his life. In addition, that instead of attending high school he was home schooled. At the age of sixteen John decided to leave home and move in with some friends. “That had nothing to do with my mother, as we have a great relationship. I just always wanted to be on my own, as I was always independent. One of my best friend’s father owned a farmers market, called Kelley’s Honey Farm. I went to work for him planting, fertilizing and picking crops. At the market I’d load and unload trucks, stock the shelves and sell Christmas trees during the holidays. But most important he was a father figure to me and taught me the importance of having a strong work ethic. To this day he supports me in all my activities, including my boxing.” The father figure that played such an important role in John’s life is Jimmy Hutton.

Returning to boxing after his hiatus, John had added muscle to his frame. He was now fighting in the open class and possessed a new attitude for the sport. His first fight in the open division was not for the faint of heart. His opponent was junior middleweight Jose Orozco one of the most decorated amateurs in Texas. Orozco was eight time Fort Worth Golden Gloves champion and five time Texas State Golden Gloves champion. He had a total of 204 amateur bouts. Although John lost a decision to Orozco, he left the ring a far better fighter than he entered it. He would go on to win two greater Forth Worth regional Golden Gloves titles. He also won the National Black Gloves and was voted the outstanding boxer of the tournament. His brain trust of manager Casey Gutierrez and trainer Raymond Barrera decided it was time to fight for money instead of trophies.

His first two outings in the pros resulted in stoppage wins for Vera, marking him a prospect. Gutierrez and Barrera wanted to see how good Vera was and matched him tough in his third bout. This resulted in a hard fought unanimous decision over Amos Davis in Fort Worth.

In his fourth outing John traveled to El Paso to face Irvin Torres at 150 pounds. To say I wasn’t impressed would be an understatement, as he appeared to labor in winning a decision over Torres. I remember telling a couple of trainers in Albuquerque, there was a polished up nothing in Fort Worth by the name of John Vera that would be easy pickings. When I finally got to speak with John weeks later, I told him my assessment of his performance. Fortunately for me Vera is mild mannered and wasn’t offended by my comment. He responded; “I hurt my right hand the week before the fight, but didn’t say anything as I hadn’t fought in fourteen months. I’m a southpaw so every time I threw a jab it hurt me more than Torres. All I could do was throw overhand lefts from the outside and left hooks in close.” At that moment I realized Vera had a lot of maturity both in and out of the ring. Thankfully I hadn’t referred to him a polished up nothing in my column.

Three months later Vera was back in El Paso, scoring a unanimous decision over Javier Nunez. I saw a much improved boxer, who threw right jabs to the head followed by left hooks to the body. Nunez was a pressure fighter, but the quick handed Vera kept beating him to the punch. I found myself trying to climb on John Vera’s band wagon by the end of the evening. In his very next fight he was thrown into the deep end of the pool by Gutierrez and Barrera against undefeated Alberto Robles. John won a six round majority decision against rugged Robles in Pharr, TX. John was now seven and zero with three KO’s.

After scoring a TKO in his next bout, John was once again tested when he faced Arturo Mijares of Mexico in El Paso on two days notice. Mijares is your prototype old school Mexican brawler who keeps coming forward, throwing punches from all angles. Keeping his cool, Vera used lateral movement to create openings. In the fifth round John dropped Mijares with a straight right jab to the body and ended the fight.

Vera was building a following in El Paso and returned three months later to face Kevin Croom, who was coming off a stoppage win of his own. Croom must have thrown a hundred punches in the first round; it was raining leather. Vera acted like he was reading a newspaper on a subway while holding one of those leather straps to maintain his balance. With seconds remaining in the round, Croom made the mistake of lunging in with an overhand right. Vera slipped the punch and exploded a right hook of the exposed chin of his opponent; there was no second round.

 

Once again “The Phenom” was asked to face a live rival in undefeated Radmir Akhmediyev of Kazakhstan. Only one fighter  had lasted the distance against the hard punching Akhmediyev in seven bouts. The fight was held appropriately at the Bomb Factory, for a private cattlemen’s dinner in Dallas. The stocky Eastern European was using his bull like rushes against the lanky counter puncher from Fort Worth. Entering the seventh round it had been a brutal fight, with the quick handed Vera having scored two knockdowns. With Akhmediyev pressing the attack, John landed a right hook to the head of his rival to score a stunning KO.

The undefeated Vera (12-0-0, 7 KO’s) has been brought along brilliantly by his manager Casey Gutierrez. Not to be overlooked is Vera’s trainer Raymond Barrera, who has prepared his charge for every opponent he’s faced. This is how you develop a prospect, so he’ll be ready when called upon to face live competition. I see a lot of young talent with shiny records, but their list of opponents are little more than dead bodies. When they are called upon to move up to the next level, barring a lucky punch, will meet with failure. Vera has already been asked to jump into deep waters on four occasions in facing Davis, Robles, Mijares and Akhmediyev. Roy Jones promotions, Inc. didn’t sign Vera to a long term contract to face bodies from the morgue. They expect him to ultimately face and defeat world class competition. The fact that Vera’s good looks attract young ladies to ringside doesn’t hurt either.

John Vera is a class act; the result of a loving mother who taught him the meaning of being a good person. The years he spent working for Kelley’s Honey Farm where he learned the value of a hard day’s work from Jimmy Hutton. Finally, having his career guided by Casey Gutierrez and Raymond Barrera who see him as a friend; not a meal ticket to make money off of.

Only time will tell if Roy Jones promotions, Inc. made a wise investment, but I think they made a good deal in signing John Vera!

Voices from the Corner: Trainer Jose “El Torito” Lopez, of Phoenix, AZ has a new featherweight he’s excited about. His name is Raul Suarez and he turned pro on December 4 of last year scoring a third round KO over Miguel Angel Alvarez in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Suarez will be returning to Nogales on March 4^th for his second pro fight. I immediately took a liking to Raul when we talked on the phone. In our conversation I found out he was born on March 17. It’s every Irishman dream to have a son born on St. Patrick’s Day, so now I want to call Suarez the “Irish Mexican.” So far the nickname has only caught on with me. Good luck to Raul and Jose in their joint venture in the world of boxing.

Lopez’s welterweight, Jose Marrufo will be making a comeback on that same card. Marrufo was working on a nine bout win streak, when his career derailed with two stunning setbacks. Marrufo hopes this will be the first step in getting the train back on the tracks.