By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. believes he’s the only one that can handle the immense punching power of unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs), and he would like to fight him at 168. Chavez Jr. further said that Golovkin was hurt by welterweight Kell Brook in their fight last September in London, England.
Golovkin was ready to fight Chavez Jr. in the past, but the fight didn’t get made. That was when Chavez Jr. was with Top Rank. He would have made a ton of money if he’d taken the fight against Golovkin.
Chavez Jr. said to ESPN Deportes:
“I’m the only one who could withstand the punches of Golovkin. Everyone saw that Kell Brook hurt him, and I’m bigger than he is as a fighter. At 168 pounds, it would be a great fight and more competitive.”
You have to question how serious Chavez Jr. is about wanting to fight Golovkin. If Chavez Jr. really wanted to fight Triple G, he would have fought him by now. The fat that he’s mentioning wanting to fight Golovkin at this point in his career appears to be Chavez Jr. name dropping.
Golovkin would likely jump at the chance of fighting Chavez Jr. in the near future. It’s still too early to tell whether Chavez Jr. is serious about wanting to fight Golovkin. I think there would be skepticism on Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler’s part about hearing the news of Chavez Jr. being interested in taking the fight. Chavez Jr. hasn’t fought in over a year since July 2015 in beating middleweight Marco Reyes by a 10 round decision. That fight took place at 170.
Even if Chavez Jr. agreed to fight Golovkin at 168, who’s to say that Chavez Jr. would make weight. In the last three years, Chavez Jr. has only made 168 for one of his fights and that was his rematch against Brian Vera in March 2014.
Chavez Jr. (49-2-1, 32 KOs) was a good fighter when he was able to melt down to make middleweight. However, after Chavez Jr’s 12 round decision loss to Sergio Martinez in 2012, he’s done little since. Chavez Jr. was suspended after the Martinez fight for testing positive for a banned substance. When Chavez Jr. did return to action in beating journeyman Brian Vera twice, he looked poor in both fights. Vera appeared to beat Chavez Jr. in their first fight in September 2013.
Chavez Jr. was given a 10 round unanimous decision. After beating Vera in a rematch in March 2014, Chavez Jr. was stopped in the 9th round by Andrzej Fonfara in April 2015. The fight was fought at light heavyweight at a catchweight of 172lbs. Chavez Jr. reportedly didn’t train for that fight, and the results seemed to indicate that. Chavez Jr. looked slow and nothing like the fighter that beat Any Lee in 2012.
Golovkin is trying to put together a fight against WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs for December 10 on HBO Championship Boxing. After the smoke clears on that fight, Golovkin might be interested in facing Chavez Jr. if the Mexican fighter is serious about wanting to fight him.
Chavez Jr. is 30-years-old, and his career is dying out from inactivity. Chavez Jr. might have already passed the point of no return with him being out of the ring for close to two years. He’s not looked good in many years, and he’s staying inactive. By the time Chavez Jr. does return to the ring to fight anybody, there’s a good chance that the ring rust will have him looking worse than he ever has in the past.
The thing with Chavez Jr. is he tends to disappear for long stretches of time after his fights. That’s the only thing predictable about Chavez Jr. now. He’ll fight someone, and then stay inactive for a year or so.
Chavez Jr. thinks Golovkin will beat Saul Canelo Alvarez when the two of them eventually face each other in the future. Chavez Jr. thinks Golovkin would either knock him out or beat him by an easy decision.
“I think it would be a good. Golovkin would be pressing and Canelo boxing a lot on his legs, but I see Canelo lasting six or seven rounds. Golovkin could knock him out or win an easy decision.”
Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy appear to be looking to increase their chances of beating Golovkin waiting him out until he gets older before making that fight. The longer they wait, the better Canelo’s chances of getting the ‘w.’