By Manuel Perez: Former lightweight/super featherweight champion Jesus Chavez (43-4, 29 KOs) struggled in beating Puerto Rican Daniel Jimenez (17-3, 10 Kos) by a hard fought 10-round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, California. Chavez, now 35, was making his first appearance in 13 months and only his third fight in almost three years. Chavez, wearing a knee brace on his badly damaged right knee, looked old and slow for most of the fight, missing punches and getting outworked by the younger 27 year-old Jimenez.

Though the final judges’ scores scored the fight in Chavez’s favor by a 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94, it was more of an even fight. I had it scored a draw and if anything, Jimenez appeared to be the better overall fighter. It wasn’t a good sign for Chavez, who if he still hopes to challenge for a title in the future, he’s going to need to improve a lot more over this performance. Jimenez, though a good fighter, isn’t a even a ranked contender, yet he looked like a champion next to Chavez, and easily made him look old and ragged in contrast. Read more…