The curious case of Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. … And his weight Born into a life of fame, fortune and bright lights, Chavez Jr. has been spoon fed with a silver spoon his entire life. So it’s no surprise that his Middleweight bout this Saturday against Brian Vera will take place, get this, at 173lbs, a weight designated for light heavyweights. What makes this circus like atmosphere even more puzzling is that Ring Leader, Bob Arum, thinks this is an historical event. His first 23 opponents were picked and he was successful, starting his career at 23-0 with 18Ko’s. In his 24 bout he ran into newly crowned IBF Light Middleweight champ, Carlos Molina. He walked away with a gift wrapped draw and with more questions than answers regarding his future. Two months later he would rematch Molina, this time earning a majority decision. Still, many more questions still lingered. What we knew though was that he was fan’s fighter and a huge draw, banking off the legacy on the back of his trunks. Following the Molina duo, Chavez Jr. was once again spoon fed a list of Midwest City opponents, Tyler Ziolkowski, Jermaine White, Grover Wiley and Ray Sanchez. After the dust had settled, his record was an impressive 34-0-1. Still, more questions than answers remained. Luckily, he had the power of promotion behind him, equipped with a PR team and blank checks for his foes. Did I mention a legion of Mexican/Mexican American fans watching his every move? This was before Canelo mania swept the nation, after De La Hoya’s departure. It was Chavez Jr. time to reign supreme. With those blank checks in hand, Top Rank went belt shopping. First up was 31-3 Jose Celaya for the WBC Continental Americas Light Middleweight title. Chavez Jr. had no problem in deposing the hopeless Celaya inside of 8 rounds. In between his next title winning performance, he went life and death with Matt Vanda in their first bout before handling him with ease in their second bout. Next up was Luciano Leonel Cuello for the WBC Latino light middleweight title. Cuello was undefeated at the time with a 23-0 record, however, his list of opponents were more suspect then Chavez Jr’s. He defeated Cuello to capture his second minor title and his cult following was beginning to form. Which each fight his fan base grew as did his girth and named opponents, eventually taking him to the Middleweight division. He would defeat the undefeated Sebastian Zbik by majority decision for the WBC middleweight title. Following the Zbik bout, Top Rank lined up Peter Manfredo Jr., Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee. Chavez looked impressive in all three bouts, showing tremendous power and size advantage. In the Lee bout, the size difference was visible; it looked like a middleweight fighting a cruiserweight. The Lee bout set-up a super fight between the undefeated Chavez Jr. and pound for pound middleweight champ, Sergio Martinez for the WBC middleweight title. Not many experts gave the young Chavez a chance, believing Martinez would take advantage of his youth and inexperience. Also, the bright lights of HBO’s 24/7 would also chronicle the lead up to the PPV event. During the four episode extravaganza, we would witness a lazy, pink underwear wearing, living room training, bowl eating cereal, rock star. A lot of critics wondered aloud if the free spirited Jr. was ready for the biggest fight of his career. The show aired many missed training sessions, followed by between the lines frustration of head trainer, Freddie Roach. All leading up to the epic finish between Jr. and Martinez, that had fans on the edge of their seats. Chavez Jr. was a heavy underdog at the betting lines and for the first 10 rounds and the little white head men behind the doors in Vegas casinos were looking like geniuses. However, rounds 11 and 12 were rounds to remember for any historian of boxing. Martinez boxed beautifully for 10 rounds, pop shoting the slow footed Chavez Jr. in the center of the ring. The poor training habits of Jr. looked to be his downfall as his condition withered from the combination punching of Martinez. However, the blistering pace set by Martinez was starting to take its toll on Martinez as well. In round 11, Martinez at times was forced to stand and trade with the bigger Chavez Jr. along the ropes. For the first time in the fight, Chavez Jr. was able to cut the ring off and land his namesake left hook and powerful right hands. This fueled a gladiator like effort from Martinez as he refused to let the bout slip away. Both fighters were physically gassed as the bell for the 12th round rang Martinez played matador to a charging Chavez in the first minute of round 12. However, a vicious right hook from Chavez Jr. stopped Martinez in tracks and forced him to stand trade in the center of the ring. Moments later, Martinez would succumb to the pressure of Chavez Jr. as a series of left hands floored the champ. During the process, Martinez also suffered torn ligaments in his knee with 1:20 remaining in the round. A wobbly Martinez rose from the canvass and an adrenaline pumped Chavez smelled blood, like a raging bull in battle. Martinez held on and retained his title via unanimous decision. Chavez Jr. saved grace with his performance in the final two stanzas and it looked like he would sky rocket to icon status in defeat. However, his moral victory was short lived as he failed the post-fight drug test due to marijuana use. He was fined and suspended for his actions. So 12 months after brightest and dingiest moments of his career, Chavez returns to HBO. In those 12 months, Chavez must have enjoyed some canibus and late night munchies as returns 2 divisions above the middleweight bout limits. Who knows, Mr. Arum may just bring out a lion and tamer for tomorrow’s weigh in.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 21:15:58 +0000
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