Former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. learned at the feet of his legendary father in Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. With a professional record of 107-6-2, Chavez Sr. is one of the best fighters that the country of Mexico has ever produced. Chavez Sr. has attempted to pass his ring knowledge off to his son but to no avail. Chavez Jr. currently owns a professional record of 47-1-1, but you don’t get the sense of seeing a dominant fighter when you’re watching his bouts.
This past Saturday, Chavez took on Brian Vera at super middleweight, but both sides had to agree to a 173-pound catch weight due to the fact that Chavez Jr. could not make the maximum weight of 168 lbs. Chavez Jr.entered the contest in Carson, California extremely unfocused and it showed during the bout.
Chavez Jr.was dominated by Vera in a bout that was supposed to be a tune-up fight for him after he was suspended for 9 months following a positive drug test for marijuana. Throughout the fight Vera was the more active fighter and once he realized that he could defeat Chavez Jr., he took his intensity to another level. Chavez Jr. appeared to be extremely fatigued which allowed Vera to take advantage of it. Chavez Jr. was the stronger fighter, but once he connected on his power punches he never followed up with combinations due to his fatigue. If Chavez Jr. had come in focused for this bout he would have been able to dispatch of Vera within six rounds.
Due to Chavez Jr.’s ineffectiveness I scored the 10-round bout 97-93 in favor of Vera. When the official score cards for the judges came out they were 96-94, 98-92, and 97-93 all in favor of Chavez Jr. The crowd at the StubHub Center in Carson went into an uproar as they were cheering for the underdog in Vera. HBO’s Jim Lampley did an excellent job of grilling Chavez Jr. after the fight who was adamant that he won the bout in spite of the fact that Vera landed more punches than him.
We have seen this act from Chavez Jr. before in his career. In September 2012, Chavez Jr. faced the biggest fight of his career when he took on Sergio Martinez. Chavez Jr.’s WBC Middleweight Championship was on the line in Las Vegas and he rolled snake eyes. Martinez won the fight because he was the more aggressive and hungry fighter. Leading up to the fight Chavez Jr. was not focused on winning. Prior to the bout HBO’s 24/7 chronicled Chavez Jr. who did not take his training serious. Chavez Jr’s. trainer Freddie Roach would go on get frustrated as he would show up to train, but his young fighter would skip training sessions in favor of spending time with his girlfriend. Immediately after the fight Chavez Jr. tested positive for marijuana which has set his career back.
Chavez Jr. hasn’t been the same fighter since he scored a knockout victory over Andy Lee in June 2012 as his focus has left.
To be a successful boxer you have to stay hungry and Chavez Jr. has lost that hunger. What allowed Chavez Sr. to enjoy his lengthy and successful career as a boxer was the fact that he always stayed hungry and he continued to work on his craft which his son has yet to grasp.
According to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Chavez Jr. is facing the possibility of having a rematch against Vera this December. Chavez Jr. won his fight over Vera due to his last name and his potential ability to line the pockets of his promoter Bob Arum. Chavez Jr. has stated that he is done with the middleweight division in favor of the super middleweight division. This is the case until he once again cannot make weight at 168. Chavez Jr. isn’t ready for current IBF and WBA Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch or WBC Middleweight Champion Andre Ward. Ward and Froch take their craft serious which gives them a huge advantage over Chavez Jr.
Once Arum realizes that he cannot make anymore money off of Chavez Jr., he will be relegated to a second-tier fighter. Hopefully before then Chavez Jr. will realize that he needs to take his craft a little more serious and leave all of the distractions behind.
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