Chavez Jr. Destroys LeHoullier

By Boxing News - 09/13/2009 - Comments

By Jim Dower: In perhaps his best performance of his career, unbeaten light middleweight contender Julio Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KO’s) crushed Jason LeHoullier (21-2-1, 8 KO’s) in a 1st round technical knockout last night to successfully defend his World Boxing Council Latino light middleweight title at the El Palenque de la Feria, Tepic, in Nayarit, Mexico. Chavez Jr., 23, the son of boxing hall of Fame star Julio Cesar Chavez, caught LeHoullier with a tremendous left hook late in the 1st round, knocking LeHoullier to the canvas.

Shortly after that, LeHoullier was backed up to the ropes and taken out by an avalanche of punches by Chavez Jr. Referee Ruben Carrion stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:43 of the 1st. At the time of the stoppage, Ruben Carrion was bent forward looking as if he was caught in a snowstorm as Chavez Jr. showered punches on him with both hands.

It was a good stoppage. Ruben Carrion would have been dropped in the remaining seconds of the round if the fight had been allowed to continue for the 17 seconds. Chavez’s left hook was a thing of beauty. Say what you will about Chavez’s other skills, his left hook is a major weapon for him and if he could land it against anyone, I’d give him a chance to win.

Early in the 1st round, it was the 5’9″ LeHoullier who looked like the better fighter as he seemed to be in control over the round with his more aggressive attacks. LeHoullier was able to nail Chavez Jr. repeatedly with left hands and it seemed like Chavez Jr’s defense wasn’t up to snuff. Chavez Jr., 6’0″, looked a lot bigger than LeHoullier, almost as if he were fighting in another division altogether.

Although listed at 5’9″, LeHoullier looked closer to 5’8″ than 5’9″ to me, because Chavez Jr. appeared to be at least four inches taller than LeHoullier. This extra size obviously was a factor that Chavez Jr. had in his favor, but for some reason, he didn’t use his size and reach to dominate during the round. Instead, he allowed LeHoullier to get in close and land shots without making him pay on the way in by throwing jabs.

Instead of that, Chavez Jr. seemed content to go to war with LeHoullier, trying to trade shot for shot. It wasn’t working on well for Chavez Jr. early in the round, however, because LeHoullier had a much better work rate and he was proving to be an excellent counter puncher.

Again and again in the round, LeHoullier would land short lefts and right hands after Chavez Jr. would throw one of his big hooks. If LeHoullier had better power, I would have been worried for Chavez Jr. However, LeHoullier looked for the most part like he couldn’t punch his way through a wet paper bag.

As the round neared the end, it looked as if LeHoullier would easily take it. However, just after LeHoullier landed a right hand, Chavez Jr. countered with a big left hook, thrown just as LeHoullier was attempting to throw a left of his own. Chavez’s punch got there first and knocked LeHoullier to the canvas. He got up looking really hurt. Chavez then went after him trying to take his head off with every punch. LeHoullier was then backed up to the ropes where Chavez Jr. laid down a steady volley of power shots with both hands until referee Ruben Carrion stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:43 of the round.

It was a great win for Chavez Jr., proving that he can beat a good B class fighter. Chavez Jr. will now likely fight middleweight John Duddy next. This will be a lot tougher fight for Chavez Jr. for a number of reasons, starting with Duddy’s height. Duddy is the same height as Chavez Jr. at 6’0″ and has good technical skills, a nice jab and decent power.

The one thing that Chavez Jr. has in his favor in this fight is that Duddy likes to bang and will probably be easily lured into a slug-fest with Chavez Jr. I would favor Chavez Jr. in a toe-to-toe war because of his left hook. If he catches Duddy to the head enough, sooner or later Duddy will either bust up or get knocked out.



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