By Jim Dower: On September 12th, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (39-0-1, 29 KO’s) will continue to press forward with his possible future date with destiny as he takes on Jason Lehoullier (21-1-1, 8 KO’s) at the El Palenque de la Feria, Tepic, in Nayarit, Mexico.

If anyone thinks that the 23-year-old Chavez Jr. is being spoon fed an easy opponent in the 31-year-old Lehoullier then they’re sadly mistaken because Lehoullier is plenty tough and might just be good enough to beat Chavez Jr. if he doesn’t bring his ‘A’ game with him on September 12th. Lehoullier is coming off a very close 12-round majority decision loss to light middleweight contender Harry Joe Yorgey a year ago in August 2008.

Lehoullier matched Yorgey almost punch for punch in that 12 round slugfest and took Yorgey’s biggest shots and fired back his own for the full 12 rounds. Even better, Lehoullier was able to stand up to Yorgey’s heavy power shots without going down or folding like many of Yorgey’s previous opponents have done, a notable example being Ronald Hearns, the son of famous boxing star Tommy Hearns.

Before that, Lehoullier looked good in fighting to a 10-round draw against Jose Luis Gonzalez last year in March 2008. Both Gonzalez and Lehoullier stood toe-to-toe for all of the 10 rounds, trading shots the entire time and not giving an inch.

The good news for Chavez Jr. is that Lehoullier isn’t a tremendous puncher, but he’s still very dangerous because he likes to throw a lot of punches and can outwork his opposition. For Chavez Jr., he needs to be careful that he doesn’t end up getting outworked in this fight because if Chavez Jr. isn’t able to take him out, which I highly doubt, then Lehoullier will be firing shot after shot until the bitter end of the fight, which is scheduled for 10 rounds.

Lehoullier is very dangerous and I’m pleasantly surprised that Chavez Jr’s management team were willing to match him against a fighter as tough and as rugged as the 31-year-old Lehoullier. It could be that Chavez’s team are putting him in a sink or swim situation, figuring that if he isn’t good enough to beat Lehoullier, a 2nd tier fighter, then it probably doesn’t bode well for the likelihood of Chavez Jr. ever fighting and winning a major title in the light middleweight division.

As of now, Chavez Jr. is in a good position to get a title shot in the near future, as he’s ranked at number #3 in the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council. If Chavez Jr. can get by Lehoullier on the 12th, it will be interesting to see if Chavez’s management tries to push to get him a title shot against one of the light middleweight champions.

It would see unlikely that Chavez would do well against Sergio Martinez, the WBC champion, or either Paul Williams & Sergeii Dzinziruk, the WBO light middleweight champions. Chavez Jr. might need at least another two, possibly three years, before he is ready to take on polished fighters like Martinez, Williams or Dzinziruk.