Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. turns 26 today, will fight on June 2nd in Los Angeles likley against Margarito

By Boxing News - 02/16/2012 - Comments

Image: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. turns 26 today, will fight on June 2nd in Los Angeles likley against MargaritoBy Jason Kim: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO’s) turned 26-years-old today, and his promoter Bob Arum is planning on bringing him back for his next fight on June 2nd at either the Staples Center or the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, according to Steve Kim at Maxboxing.com.

There isn’t an opponent picked out as of yet, but it doesn’t appear that it’s going to be WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Arum doesn’t want Martinez to face Chavez Jr. yet, and instead is looking at putting Chavez with either Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KO’s) or junior middleweight contender Antonio Margarito (38-8, 27 KO’s).

Lee is a strong possibility, but he may lose out due his southpaw stance, his two-fisted power and his ability to move around the ring. A fight between Lee and Chavez Jr. might turn out to be a mismatch because of all the things that Lee can do in the ring. He fight in close, fight at a distance and he can also move really well.

Lee is like the Wladimir Klitschko in the middleweight division and that’s not a good thing for a one-paced plodder with average power power and limited defensive skills. Arum might be using Lee’s name to disguise who he might really want to put in with Chavez Jr. and that’s probably going to be 33-year-old Margarito. Arum has to find a money fight for Margarito and there really isn’t too many big fights out there in terms of in house fights, which is what Arum will likely do.

Arum won’t put Margarito in with a top junior middleweight contender like James Kirkland, Saul Alvarez or Sergiy Dzinziruk. Margarito would get torn apart by either. There’s really on Chavez Jr. The World Boxing Council President Jose Suliaman says he won’t give his blessing for a fight between Chavez Jr. and Margarito, but I think at the end of the day Arum will make that fight anyway.

Lee will be just be used as a name to make it seem like there’s choices, but I think Arum is looking at Margarito all the way as the guy to put in with Chavez Jr. It’ll be an in house Top Rank fight and Chavez Jr. will remain unbeaten, winning on size along against the aging Margarito. The fight will make more money than Lee vs. Chavez Jr. but at the cost of being seen as a joke by hardcore boxing fans.



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