By Dan Ambrose: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) is hoping he can get WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24 KO’s) to move up to 168 and face him in the super middleweight division, because Chavez Jr. thinks he’s got the skills to beat the powerful Golovkin.
The son of the legendary fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. thinks he’ll knock Golovkin out if the fight gets put together. I’m not sure if Chavez Jr. can do that because he doesn’t have any solid knockout wins over good opposition on his resume that would suggest that he could knockout someone like Golovkin.
Chavez Jr. said in an interview with The Record “It could also be at middleweight [in facing Golovkin], but it would be better in between or at 168 because I struggle with the weight and I’m stronger when I go up. I think I can knock him out.”
Golovkin has already said that he’d really like to take a fight with Chavez Jr. However, I’m not so certain that Golovkin would be open to facing Chavez Jr. at 168, as that would be more of a problem for him.
It’s not that 8 pounds would be a big deal for him, because it wouldn’t. The problem for Golovkin is that Chavez Jr. would likely rehydrate up to the 190s, and it would be a fight where Golovkin, who weighed 170 lbs after rehydrating for his fight against Matthew Macklin last Saturday night, would potentially be giving away more than 20 pounds.
If Chavez Jr. rehydrates into the low 190s, we’re talking 20 pounds. That’s a cruiserweight that Golovkin would be facing. I would be okay with it if there were a rehydration clause in the contract that would keep Chavez Jr. from ballooning up to 190, but I can’t see Chavez Jr. ever agreeing to something like that. Golovkin would have to accept the fight as it is with Chavez Jr. being able to rehydrate as much as he wants.
The sanctioning bodies need to implement strict rehydration limits where a fighter can’t gain more than 5 pounds over the weight limit for the division their fighting in. That weight it would be easier to put fights together where the contestants way about the same amount.
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