WBC orders Chavez Jr-Rubio for interim 160 lb. title

By Boxing News - 07/11/2013 - Comments

chavez 434By Dan Ambrose: The World Boxing Council has ordered a rematch between former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) and Marco Antonio Rubio (57-6-1, 49 KO’s) to fight for the interim WBC 160 lb. title, according to Fightnews.com.

Chavez Jr. is ranked #2 by the WBC, and Rubio is ranked #1. The winner of the Chavez Jr-Rubio fight would then become the mandatory challenger for WBC champion Sergio Martinez.

Chavez Jr. already beat Rubio with easy last year in February by a 12 round unanimous decision in San Antonio, Texas. That was the fight where there was a slip up with the drug testing, and none of the fighters were tested for some reason.

Rubio wasn’t happy because he wanted the testing to be done. Whatever the case, Chavez Jr. used a sizeable weight advantage over the lighter Rubio to dominate him. Rubio showed a better chin than Chavez Jr’s previous opponent Andy Lee, and he was able to fight him off the ropes for much of the fight without getting hurt.

Chavez Jr. looked sluggish in that fight, and it appeared that he was weakened by taking off a ton of water weight and then putting it back on in the 24 hours before the fight.

Chavez Jr. has a fight coming up against Brian Vera before the end of the year in Los Angeles, California. Rubio has a fight as well. Both guys will have to win in order to meet up in the WBC middleweight eliminator bout.

Sergio Martinez is still rehabbing his injured knee and hand, and he’s not expected to be available to defend his title until the first quarter of next year. However, it’s doubtful that he’ll chose to defend his title against the winner of the Chavez Jr-Rubio bout at that time because he’ll likely want a tune-up bout to get the rust out before he faces one of those guys.



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