By Dan Ambrose: The recently beaten former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-2-1, 32 KOs) says he’s going to be focusing on using his boxing skills in order to get hit from now on in his fights. Chavez Jr., 29, was stopped after the 9th round after he quit in his corner last April against light heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara in their fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Chavez Jr. says he got tired in that fight after the 5th round, as he didn’t train right. He says Fonfara’s bigger size was also a problem. For Chavez Jr’s next fight against little known Marcos Reyes (33-2, 24 KOs) on July 18th, Chavez Jr. will be going back to the basics by using his jab, movement, and focusing on not getting hit as much. Chavez Jr. doesn’t want to be a “Rocky” type fighter any longer.
The Chavez Jr-Reyes fight is scheduled for 10 rounds and it’ll be televised by Showtime Championship Boxing from the Don Haskins Convention Center, in El Paso, Texas, USA.
“When I come with Robert, you know, I’m trained, but a lot of things changed,” Chavez Jr. said to Fighthype. “Back to the basics, work my jab, my position, and you know, box a little bit more. Use my abilities, not try to fight like Rocky. I learn a lot here with Robert.”
As heavy as Chavez Jr. is looking in training camp, I don’t know how he can move for 10 rounds without him getting tired and having to stand a slut with Reyes. The good news for Chavez Jr. is that Reyes isn’t a tremendous puncher. He’s a decent puncher, but most of his knockouts have come against weak opposition. What’s bad for Chavez Jr. is that Reyes is a busy fighter who will be pushing a fast pace in their fight just like Fonfara did.
If Chavez Jr. can’t score a knockout or if he can’t keep up with Reyes, we might see Chavez Jr. quit on his stool again. Once a fighter quits once, they it’s easier for them to quit a second, third and even a fourth time. Chavez Jr. should have come out for the 10th round in his fight against Fonfara and looking to recover from the knockdown in the previous round, but he didn’t. If Reyes puts it on Chavez Jr. the same way Fonfara did, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chavez Jr. quits again.
There are some boxing fans who feel that Chavez Jr. is a shot fighter. He was flawed to begin with, but he’s really slipped dramatically since his loss to Sergio Martinez three years ago. Chavez Jr. has not looked good since that fight. The last fight in which Chavez Jr. looked impressive was against Andy Lee in June of 2012. That was three long years ago, and Chavez Jr. was only 26 at the time. I don’t know if he can get back to that level given his weight problems he’s had in the last three years.
Chavez Jr. used a lot of movement in beating John Duddy by a lopsided 12 round decision give years ago in 2010. Chavez Jr. retired Duddy in that fight, as the Irish fighter chose not to resume his career after the loss. That was arguably the best performance of Chavez Jr’s career by far. He moved constantly and looked in great shape. If Chavez Jr. could fight like that against Reyes, it’s going to be a one-sided fight, but I’m not sure that he can. Chavez Jr. had Alex Ariza as his strength and conditioning coach back then, and he was in superb shape. He’s not looking anywhere close to that in the recent video of his training camp with Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California.
Also on the card is McJoe Arroyo vs. Arthur Villanueva.
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