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Immediately after middleweight Brian Vera stopped hot prospect Andy Lee in the seventh round for a major upset on last week's "Friday Night Fights," there was speculation that they would meet in a summer rematch. But that won't happen, according to Jeff Wald of "The Contender," Vera's promoter.
"Not a chance on God's earth," Wald said when asked about a rematch by ESPN.com. "No reason to. Lee doesn't mean anything. There is no upside to a rematch. There are better fights out there for Brian. There are more meaningful opponents. I'm very proud of what Brian did because nobody gave him a chance. Why should we do a rematch? What for? There's better money elsewhere."
Lee, a 2004 Irish Olympian, is trained and managed by Emanuel Steward, who was already looking ahead to a possible title fight with Kelly Pavlik before the shocking loss. They also were set to sign with Top Rank following the Vera fight. Although Lee lost, Top Rank's Bob Arum told ESPN.com that he still intends to sign Lee.
"Sure, we still want to sign him," Arum said. "It won't be the same deal, and they know that. We'll tweak it. But we talked [Wednesday] and we're going to go ahead and sign him. Hopefully, we can finalize it this weekend. I still think Andy is a hell of a prospect. Now it's up to our matchmakers, Bruce [Trampler] and Brad [Goodman], to bring him along."
Arum said if they can finalize the deal, he wants to put Lee in an untelevised bout on Pavlik's June 7 undercard.
"Not a chance on God's earth," Wald said when asked about a rematch by ESPN.com. "No reason to. Lee doesn't mean anything. There is no upside to a rematch. There are better fights out there for Brian. There are more meaningful opponents. I'm very proud of what Brian did because nobody gave him a chance. Why should we do a rematch? What for? There's better money elsewhere."
Lee, a 2004 Irish Olympian, is trained and managed by Emanuel Steward, who was already looking ahead to a possible title fight with Kelly Pavlik before the shocking loss. They also were set to sign with Top Rank following the Vera fight. Although Lee lost, Top Rank's Bob Arum told ESPN.com that he still intends to sign Lee.
"Sure, we still want to sign him," Arum said. "It won't be the same deal, and they know that. We'll tweak it. But we talked [Wednesday] and we're going to go ahead and sign him. Hopefully, we can finalize it this weekend. I still think Andy is a hell of a prospect. Now it's up to our matchmakers, Bruce [Trampler] and Brad [Goodman], to bring him along."
Arum said if they can finalize the deal, he wants to put Lee in an untelevised bout on Pavlik's June 7 undercard.
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