At 38, Brandon Vera may be considered old in the world of sports.
But the Filipino-American assures that fire in him is still burning and wants his latest fight in Manila to define his legacy.
On Friday, Vera will be facing Chi Lewis-Parry for the inaugural One Championship World Heavyweight Title and he will be doing so in front of his countrymen.
“This is a legacy fight for me, this is the defining moment, fighting here in the Philippines.” Vera said Tuesday during his open workout session in Makati. “Fighting here in the Philippines, fighting for the title, fighting for my family, this is going to be a good one.”
READ: Vera fires back at trash-talking Parry: I’m going to kill this dude
Vera (13-7) stands at 6’2” and will be fighting a taller Lewis-Parry (6-0), who stands at a big 6’9,”.
“The Truth” says he has two options when it comes to dealing with his gargantuan of an opponent— either end it quickly or, his personal option, take the Englishman into the latter rounds and beat him up relentlessly.
Brandon Vera during the open workout ahead of his ONE Championship Fight. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
“I have two thoughts on this fight, like Mike Tyson said a long time ago ‘everybody’s got a game plan until they get punched’ or you punch them or something happens,” Vera said. “I would love to drag his big ass to the later rounds, have his mouth open and make him breath hard so that he doesn’t want to be there anymore but if I do find [an opportunity to] finish, I’m going to finish as soon as possible.”
“His length and size is going to play a part for the fight, two of his biggest attributes are his size and strength.”
READ: Vera faces Parry for first-ever ONE Championship heavyweight title
Vera, however, knows fast fights have been the staple of Lewis-Parry’s after the latter’s six fights all ended in knockout, technical knockout, or submission.
Lewis-Parry’s last fight was in July of 2014 and he beat Alain Ngalani via TKO in the 4:07 mark of the first round.
“All his fights is knocking somebody out,” Vera said whose last fight was also a TKO victory in the first round (3:54) against Igor Subora. “I’m going to take all that into consideration while we’re doing our war and make sure I make it hard for him to hit me.”