By Dan Ambrose: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he’s going to match unbeaten middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) up with World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto next in 2011 if Chavez can beat welterweight Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KO’s) in their fight on December 4th. In an article at the Orange County Register, Arum says “If he [Chavez Jr.] wins this fight, I’m going to put him in against Miguel Cotto. Cotto is a terrific fighter and he won’t be intimidated by Chavez’s name. Is Julio ready for a challenge like that? I don’t know. I think Freddie [Roach] thinks there’s a lot of potential there, and the last fight [Chavez’s 12 round decision win over fringe middleweight contender John Duddy] was definitely a big step.”

I kind of doubt that Cotto is afraid of Chavez Jr. Why would he be. Chavez has been matched against B level fighters his entire career, even against middleweight John Duddy. He still hasn’t been put in with anyone that can really test him, and he certainly won’t be tested adequately by welterweight Alfonso Gomez on December 4th. That would be a test if they were both welterweights instead of Chavez fighting two divisions above Gomez. Being that much bigger than Gomez, makes this fight not exactly one that you can use to gauge where Chavez Jr. is at as a fighter.

To really know how good Chavez is, you need to put him in with a good middleweight from his own division instead of cherry picking fighters from the welterweight division like Gomez. That guy is someone that has fighting style almost identical to Duddy, and he doesn’t have hand speed or power to threaten Chavez and make him look bad. In other words, Gomez is nothing more than a guy that will make Chavez Jr. look good against and make people believe in him without really putting him with someone from his own weight class that would an excellent chance of beating him.

If Arum really wanted to see where Chavez Jr. is at as a fighter, he would put him in with someone like Paul Williams, Matthew Macklin or Gennady Golovkin. But instead, it will be Chavez vs. a welterweight without a lot of power or hand speed. What do you learn from that?

Chavez will likely be torn apart when he fights Miguel Cotto next year. It’s too bad that they’re not willing to put Chavez Jr. in with a fighter that can better prepare him for what’s in store for him when he fights Cotto. Gomez was easily destroyed by Cotto when they fought in the past.

Chavez wishes he could fight Oscar De La Hoya, who previously beat his famous father Julio Cesar Chavez twice years ago. Chavez Jr. says “I would have loved to have the opportunity [to fight De La Hoya]. Maybe when De La Hoya loses all his money he will want that fight.” A prime De La Hoya would likely easily beat Chavez Jr., but I would give Chavez Jr. a good chance of beating the retired De La Hoya now.