Chavez Jr. could be fighting Zbik next

By Boxing News - 06/28/2010 - Comments

Image: Chavez Jr. could be fighting Zbik nextBy Jason Kim: According to the latest news, undefeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) could be fighting unbeaten World Boxing Council interim middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (29-0, 10 KO’s) next rather than the full WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. This is would give Chavez’s trainer Freddie Roach another fight to work on technique with the young 24-year-old Chavez before throwing him in with either Martinez or WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto.

Last Saturday night, Chavez Jr. looked impressive in defeating fringe middleweight contender John Duddy by a mostly one-sided 12 round unanimous decision at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas. This was Chavez’s first fight under new trainer Roach and with the help of strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, Chavez showed very good conditioning, looking a lot leaner and showing the ability to fight a lot harder than he usually does in his fights.

Before this fight, Chavez Jr. had a problem at times of wearing down late in his fights and taking a lot of punishment. That wasn’t the case last Saturday night. Chavez actually seemed to get stronger as the rounds went by and in the last three rounds of the fight, he was the one taking the fight to a tired and beaten Duddy.

However, as good as Chavez looked in the fight, it would be asking a lot of him to go from a win over a fringe contender like Duddy to a fight against the best middleweight in the division in 35-year-old Martinez or to take on a tough fighter like Cotto. Chavez would likely take a beating against both and there would be a good chance that he would be knocked out. However, Zbik, 28, is a slight step up from Duddy.

I wouldn’t say he’s a big step up, because Zbik appears to be a paper champion. He hasn’t anyone but mostly European fighters and has looked very flawed much of the time. However, he does appear to be at least slightly better than Duddy from the looks of it.

Zbik has a better jab than Duddy, and likes to use it a lot. Zbik moves around constantly, so he won’t be someone that is coming at Chavez in straight lines all night long like Duddy was. Zbik also mixes his punches up really well. He has a nice looping right hand, uppercut and throws combinations at unpredictable times.

The only thing you can really predict about Zbik is that he’s going to be throwing a lot of jabs. Other than that, it’s hard to know what kind of punch or what angle he’ll be throwing it. His movement and jabs make him tough. His hand speed isn’t that great, though, and neither is his power.

That will give Chavez a big advantage in those areas, because he’s a lot faster and hits a lot harder than Zbik. However, Zbik has an excellent chin and probably won’t be hurt by Chavez’s shots. The fight could come down to whoever has the better jab. Zbik appears to have a more effective jab and I can see him swelling and perhaps busting Chavez up with it.

Zbik does not fight on the inside and won’t stand around and let Chavez work in close the way that Duddy did last Saturday night. If Chavez tries to come inside, Zbik will simply spin away and move to the outside. Zbik moves really well and has nimble feet. He doesn’t get tired either. He’s one of those rare fighters that can move for 12 rounds without it causing them to gas out.

In his two fights with the Italian slugger Domenico Spada, Zbik looked good in jabbing, moving and landing nice combinations. Granted, he showed zero power in either of those fights but his jab looked good and his chin like iron. Spada landed a lot of shots in both fights, but Zbik was never hurt once.



Comments are closed.