[caption id="attachment_67038" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Andy Lee fights in Atlantic City on Saturday. "]
Emanuel Steward's pantheon of champions has included such legends as Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya. To date, the Hall of famer trainer has never lost a rematch.
That alone is enough to make Steward's Irish charge Andy Lee a big favorite in his long anticipated rematch with American middleweight Brian Vera, the only man to beat him, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this Saturday.
Lee-Vera II is presented by DiBella Entertainment in association with Caesars Atlantic City. The fight will air live on HBO's "World Championship Boxing" show whose broadcast begins at 10 pm EST.
The ten-rounder is the co-feature on the card, along with world middleweight champ Sergio Martinez' Diamond title defense against European titlist Darren Barker of England.
Also on the undercard is Seanie Monaghan, the popular Long Island light heavyweight, in a six-rounder with Kentrell Claiborne and Kevin Rooney, Jr. against Danny Lugo in a four round middleweight contest.
MAKE OR BREAK
The first time around, back in March 2008, Lee dropped Vera in the first round and was ahead on points when he started slugging with the tough Texan.
Lee was rocked in the seventh stanza but had weathered the storm -- and actually landed three of the last four punches in their final exchange - when referee Tony Chiarantano controversially stopped the match.
It went down in the record book as a TKO loss for the Limerick southpaw at 2:17 of the seventh.
Lee, now 26-1 [19 KOs], wants payback.
"I didn't need the rematch to further my career, but it's something I've wanted," said Lee. "From the moment I lost to Vera, I've wanted to avenge it."
Attempts to lure Vera back in the ring then failed. Then their careers took different paths.
Vera [19-5, 12 KOs] would go on to lose four of his next five fights, including a ten-rounder to the same Craig McEwan who gave Lee a mighty scare earlier this year. He'd end the rot with a split decision over Sergio Mora, a former WBC light middleweight titlist, last February.
Lee, in contrast, has won 11 consecutive bouts and climbed to number two in the world on the WBA and WBO rankings. He's sixth in the WBC.
Lee-Vera II therefore has the feel of a world title eliminator.
"The fight makes sense," Lee insisted. "He is on a winning streak coming off his best win against Sergio Mora, and I'm on a streak now as well, so it makes sense not only as a personal matter but as a boxing matter."
MANNY RECORD
It's personal for Steward, too, according to Lee.
"Manny's just as focused as I am on this fight," the fighter said. "It hurt him when I lost that fight as much as it hurt me. For him it's just as personal as well because his pride is on the line as well. He's never lost a rematch."
Notable rematches in which Steward has led his fighters to victory include Holyfield-Bowe II when Evander regained the world heavyweight title; Lewis-McCall II when Lennox avenged his knock out loss to Oliver McCall and Klitschko-Brewster II that also ended in redemption for the giant Ukrainian and frequent Lee sparring, Wladimir Klitschko.
VERA VOW
Vera, however, hopes to end Steward's streak. Expect an encore, the American, at 29 two years older than Lee, said.
"The fight is going to play out the same way, the only difference is that I am going to look better and more skilled doing it," he pledged. "I am tougher and stronger than him. I proved that in our first fight, have proved it since, and, because of that, I will knock him out and derail his plans for the second time in his career."
Encore, yes, Steward concurred. But only in terms of Lee's performance before he decided to slug it out with Vera.
The trainer promised a different ending.
"He [Lee] was fighting well. He'll fight the same fight but with a little more patience," Steward noted.
Apparently, Lee's eagerness to finish off an opponent he'd underestimated backfired.
Said Steward: "[First time] when we had him hurt, we went all out and shot our wad. That's the Irish in him."
Lou DiBella, who promotes both Lee and Vera, is as high as Steward on the Irishman but said Saturday's match would be a litmus test.
"I truly believe that Andy, behind Sergio Martinez, and maybe Mathew Macklin, is the best middleweight in the world. He is on the verge of becoming a star, but he has a very tough test in front of him in Vera.
"This is not going to be an easy fight by any means, but it is going to be an exciting one, that I can guarantee. Andy wants to prove that the first fight was a mistake, and Brian wants to prove that it wasn't. These guys are both going to leave it all out on the line, and as a true fight fan, what more could you ask for?" DiBella pondered.
LEE BUS
There are still seats available on the Queens bus to Atlantic City for Saturday's boxing show.
The bus, organized by Arklow boxer James Moore will leave Maggie Mae's [41-15 Queens Boulevard] in Sunnyside at 4 pm, Saturday. Tickets are $160 and will include entrance into Boardwalk Hall and drinks on the bus.
Call Moore at (347) 301-5917 for reservations.
For fans traveling to Atlantic City by other means, fight tickets are priced at $300, $200, $100, and $50, and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at any Ticketmaster retail outlet, or in person at the Boardwalk Hall box office.
