By Dave Lahr: Bob Arum looked like he was in ecstasy last night after Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) defeated John Duddy (29-2, 18 KO’s) by a 12 round decision at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas. Arum, looking almost like he was gloating, said a new super star has been born, referring to the 24-year-old Chavez.

I saw the fight and don’t know what the big fuss is all about. Chavez Jr. looked pretty average to me. It was like watching an ESPN 2 fight and seeing a couple of obscure B level fighters going at it. In this case, Chavez Jr. defeated a defensively wide open Duddy by a mostly one-sided 12 round decision.

The fight didn’t really get one-sided until the 2nd half of the bout when Chavez began to get a little more aggressive by taking the fight to Duddy. Before that, Chavez was letting Duddy come to him and was getting the better shots in during their exchanges. Neither Chavez or Duddy looked like championship caliber fighters, as far as I can tell.

I thought Chavez looked decent but not like a future champion and certainly not good enough to beat Miguel Cotto or Sergio Martinez, if that’s what Arum has planned for him. Freddie Roach, the trainer for Chavez, wants to get him one more fight before having him fight for a title. Man, they can give Chavez 20 more fights, and I don’t see him winning a title in the light middleweight or the middleweight divisions, at least not a world title. He might win another Silver title or some other made up belt, but not a world title.

Chavez didn’t show the kind of talent that would make me think he’s any more than a gatekeeper fighter. He’s still young, so maybe he’ll get better in the future. I don’t know that he will. By 24, you can usually tell if a fighter is going to be a future champion or not, and I don’t see Chavez as being in the same class as Martinez, Kermit Cintron, Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland or Felix Sturm.

I see Chavez as a bottom 15 type of fighter. But it looks like Arum is really sold him for some reason. I have no idea what he sees in him because Chavez looked average to me.