By Manuel Perez: Light middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (39-0-1, 29 KOs) defeated previously undefeated Argentinean Luciano Cuello (23-1, 10 KOs) by a fairly close 10-round decision on Saturday night at the Plaza Monumental Playas, in Tijuana, Mexico. The final judges’ scores were 98-92, 96-94 and 96-95. Like usual Chavez Jr. fights, there was at least one judge that had scores that were far different from the action took place in the ring.
Chavez Jr. seemed to get the better of Cuello in most of the early rounds, landing the harder shots with his big left and right hooks to the body. However, Chavez Jr’s work rate was poor as usual, and he allowed Cuello to outwork him in many of the rounds.
This probably would have been an easy fight for Chavez jr. if he had let his hands go a little more often, because Cuello, despite his heavy pressure he was putting on Chavez Jr. throughout the fight, he had next to no power. Chavez Jr. nailed him with a couple of big right hands to the head in the first five rounds, causing Cuello’s nose to bleed.
In the 2nd half of the fight, Chavez Jr. seemed to tire slightly, letting Cuello to win many of the rounds and tighten the fight up. Chavez Jr. looked hardly like a top 10 light middleweight during this part of the fight, or, for that matter, during the first half as well. He was nailed often by Cuello to the head and showed poor defensive skills.
Minutes after the bout had concluded, Chavez Jr’s promoter, Bob Arum, said that they were looking at Manny Pacquiao, John Duddy and Oscar De La Hoya as three fighters that Arum hopes to match Chavez Jr. with in 2009. Based on how Chavez Jr. looked tonight, I’d say he’d be close to beating none of them.
Nothing thus far on his resume of mostly B and C class fighters suggests that Chavez Jr. belongs in the same arena with them, much less in the same ring. Although I’d like to see him fight any one of them, especially Pacquiao and De La Hoya, for the circus like spectacle that the bout would turn out to be.
In other action: Making is 2nd defense of his title, World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Humberto Soto (47-7-2, 30 KOs) stopped challenger Antonio Davis (26-5) in the 4th round. Davis was knocked down four times before the bout was ultimately stopped in the 4th round. Using power punches, Soto dropped a badly over-matched Davis twice in the 1st round with big right hands.
In the 4th round, Soto went after the 36-year-old Davis, attacking him with hooks and right hands and put him down two more times before referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. stepped in and put a halt to the one-sided affair at 2:38 of the round.
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