When we caught up with Venegas who was in the final days of training for a fight which may not be on the same card as the Canelo Alvarez-James Kirkland fight later on that evening, but it's just as big a fight for Gilbert who wants to prove to his trainer, Jesse James Leija that he too, deserves to be included in the group of up and coming fighters in their elite stable of talent which includes fighters such as World Champion Francisco Vargas.
"I've had a good five weeks to get right as well as to polish up some of my combinations," said Venegas III whose father was also a professional boxer, "I've been around boxing my whole life."
Little did he know that the fight game would be in his future when he excelled as a tailback at United Township High School in East Moline, Illinois. He was so good in fact, that he received a scholarship to attend William Penn University in Iowa.
His big break in the boxing biz came when none other than Jesse James Leija came calling and Venegas has been in the Alamo City ever since training at Leija's Championfit Gym with the big boys even sparring with Jesse James Leija, Jr. and big Kendo Castañeda.
"He (Leija, Sr.) feels I have a lot of potential, he likes my work ethic and wants to work on my technique."
His uncle Enrique Venegas is his other trainer who also looks out for him each and every morning as his daily routine includes a brisk four-mile run, jump rope work, his ab workout and about three rounds of shadow boxing before he hits his day head on and by the looks of his promo picture, he seems to be a lean-mean 150 lb. fighting machine, "I'm at a catch weight right now at 150 Lbs. which is a Light Welterweight, but I'm focused and I'm going to stick to the game plan. If I hurt him I'll try to capitalize without getting overexcited, because when you do you start throwing hay makers and you could get yourself in trouble so I try to stay composedand let the fight come to me."
Some wise words coming from such a young man, but when that bell rings on Saturday, there will be one fighter coming out of his corner with his eye on the prize, a stepping stone to bigger and better things, but one thing's for sure, no matter what the outcome, Liam will be waiting to hear all about it.