By Collie Moore: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. gave one of his most impressive performances tonight in stopping highly-rated Andy Lee in the 7th Round in his third title defence in front of a large crowd in El Paso, Texas.

Chavez Jr. was able to drag Lee into a brawl and use his size to trap Lee on the ropes more and more often as the fight went on, culminating in the referee stopping the fight when Lee was unresponsive under a barrage of hard combinations.

Lee scored well in the early rounds, using his jab effectively to keep the Mexican fighter at bay. For the first two rounds, Chavez looked puzzled about how to get in close to Lee. When he did manage to get in close, he landed with some nice shots. Ominously for Lee, Chavez began to increase his work rate in the third under the advice of trainer Freddie Roach. Chavez demonstrated a good chin as he was able to walk through Lee’s punches and began to land powerful trademark body punches. Intelligently, Chavez began showboating to draw Lee into a brawl, and the Irishman’s jab lost its effectiveness as Chavez Jr’s bulk became an increasingly significant weapon to pin Lee in close. Lee demonstrated good heart to withstand ‘The Son of the Legend’s’ punches but was exhausted and hurt when the referee sensibly stepped in.

It will be interesting to see if Chavez Jr., who appears to be improving in every fight, will next face Sergio Martinez, the P4P #3 who has long been calling him out. Chavez, who appeared to return the favour and call out the Argentine in his post-fight interview with Larry Merchant, would have the weight advantage if that fight does take place, but his the extent of his strong chin would be tested more severely than ever before by the Ring Middleweight Champion. Lee was disappointed but honest in his post-fight interview, praising the Mexican’s chin, stating how he ‘was able to walk through my shots.’ Lee, who knows Martinez quite well (they share a promoter) reckons the Chavez fight would be a tough one, primarily due to Chavez Jr’s size. Regardless of what lies ahead, tonight’s performance will have elevated Chavez Jr’s reputation amongst many boxing observers, although sterner tests still do lie ahead.

The fight, however, was not without a degree of controversy. Chavez Jr. complained of leg cramps in his corner at the end of the fourth round. Perhaps more significantly was the fact that he failed to provide a urine sample before the fight (which was delayed in order to allow Chavez Jr. warm up). As of the moment of writing this, it is unclear as to whether he provided a urine sample after the fight. Failing to do so for the second consecutive fight, coupled with the gloves incident, may raise suspicions and/or critics, and make one scorn at the lack of concrete regulation on such issues. Also, there was no on-the-night weight taken: HBO analysts, who had Roy Jones Jr. amongst them, estimate his weight on the night was possibly above 180lbs. Although the debate may go on about weight and rehydration, tonight Chavez Jr. extended his unbeaten record and, in doing so, provided Andy Lee with a sizable setback in his ambitions to become world champion.