By Jim Dower: Number #1 ranked WBC middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) will be taking a 10 round tune-up bout against 32-year-old 5’7″ super middleweight David Medina (22-2, 10 kO’s) on March 19th at a still to be determined venue in Mexico. Chavez, 25, has been given a title shot against WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik on June 4th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That fight has already been purchased by HBO to show to the American public, despite Chavez Jr. still being almost completely unproven as a fighter. The Medina fight will be used to help sharpen Chavez Jr. for the Zbik fight, and hopefully improve upon his last performance against Billy Lyell in January.

Chavez Jr. won that fight by a 10 round decision but looked like a B level fighter rather than someone ranked at number #1 by the WBC. Chavez Jr. has been slow in stepping up the level of his opposition during his eight year pro career. And with his 42-0 record, he’s only faced on marginally decent fighter during his career and that was John Duddy, and he’s not considered a really good fighter. Chavez Jr. lucked out with the World Boxing Council stripping former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and giving the title to Zbik. Chavez Jr. would have surely lost to Martinez had he been able to keep the title. The WBC stripped Martinez after he opted to take on Sergiy Dzinziruk on March 12th.

Chavez Jr. should beat Medina to get to the Zbik fight. That’s another winnable fight for Chavez Jr. because Zbik isn’t very good and is considered to be a paper champion. However, if Chavez Jr. looks as bad as he did in his win over Lyell, he’ll probably lose to Zbik. Neither of those guys compare with other top middleweights like Martinez, Gennady Golovkin, and Dmitri Pirog, among others. If Chavez Jr. beats Zbik and Medina, he might be able to milk the WBC title for a little while facing one or two guys before he’s forced to fight top contender David Lemieux. Chavez Jr. will likely be knocked early in that fight and lost his title, unless he vacates before.