Chavez-Fonfara peaks at 836K viewers on Showtime

By Boxing News - 04/21/2015 - Comments

chavez300By Dan Ambrose: Last Saturday’s match-up between former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-2-1, 32 KOs) and #4 WBC light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (27-3, 16 KOs) failed to bring in the huge ratings that Chavez Jr. previously was accustomed to in the past when he held down the World Boxing Council 160 pound title from 2011 to 2012.

The Chavez Jr-Fonfara fight brought in a peak of 836 thousand viewers with an average of just 618 thousand on Showtime Championship Boxing from the StubHub Center in Carson, California, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.

Those numbers obviously weren’t helped by a competing fight card that took place on HBO on the same night, but you have to believe that Chavez Jr’s inactivity in the last three years, and his poor performances against Brian Vera [x2] and Sergio Martinez didn’t help the 29-year-old Chavez Jr.

Additionally, Showtime doesn’t have the subscriber base that HBO does right now, so it’s not surprising that we’re seeing lower numbers. Fonfara also isn’t a big name outside of Illinois, and that didn’t help either.

“Showtime card (head to head with HBO), averaged 618k viewers for #Chavez-Fonfara (peak 836K), 346k for Imam-Castillo opener (peak 427k),” Rafael said on his twitter.

As for the fight, Chavez Jr. was basically a punching bag for nine rounds until he quit on his stool after the 9th round had ended. Referee Jerry Cantu officially halted the bout at 3:00 of the 9th. Late in the 9th round, Fonfara turned southpaw briefly and clocked Chavez Jr. with a short left hook to the head that caught him by surprise and dropped him down on his backside on the canvas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkdIDJbpX1o

It looked like Chavez Jr. hadn’t expected the speed and agility to which Fonfara pivoted and nailed him with the left hand. There was also quite a bit of power that Fonfara put on the short punch and that was something that Chavez Jr. wasn’t ready for.

To his credit, Chavez Jr. got up off the canvas and fought well for the remaining seconds of the round. Chavez Jr. didn’t look hurt when he went back to his corner at the end of the round. He looked tired, but not hurt. But shortly after getting to his corner, Chavez Jr. pulled a no mas in saying he was quitting rather than sticking it out and going out on his shield like a lot of warriors do.

The quit job and the poor performance by Chavez Jr. puts his career in limbo. He’s kind of stultified right now where he’s stuck in a position where he doesn’t fit in either the super middleweight or the light heavyweight divisions. His best fit, at least in terms of being a good fighter, was when he fought at 160. But at 168 and 175, Chavez Jr. doesn’t appear to have the talent to compete against the best fighters.

Chavez Jr. still hasn’t fought anyone at super middleweight despite moving to that division in 2013. There aren’t any easy marks for him at that weight in terms of champions, and the guys are faster than him, and even Fonfara. It’s just not a good fit for Chavez Jr.

If Chavez Jr. can use his popularity to drag up middleweights to fight at super middleweight or at a catch-weight of 172 pounds, then Chavez Jr. might be able to have some kind of success, but I think he’d have to give up fighting for world titles and instead just focus on picking fights against guys where he has a considerable size advantage over and then bullying them. Chavez Jr. is a force when he’s got a 10 to 20 pound weight advantage over an opponent.



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