If Chavez Jr. beats Zbik, he could face Sergio Martinez, says Arum

By Boxing News - 02/05/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 Ko’s) will be facing WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 KO’s) in May. If Chavez defeats Zbik, which is likely because is a very average fighter that the WBC bestowed on him their title without him having to fight for it, then Chavez Jr. could be facing Sergio Martinez after that, says his promoter Bob Arum.

That would be an incredibly bold move by Arum, one which would almost guarantee a knockout loss for Chavez Jr. However, Arum for some reason thinks Chavez Jr. can win.

In an article by Michael Marley at examiner.com, Arum said “I hear the negatives, but I also know that (trainer) Freddie Roach and my matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, both have a lot of confidence in Julio. Bruce thinks Julio is improving and will keep improving under Freddie. Look, this Zbik is undefeated and, if Julio gets past him, he builds his stock, his credibility. Then we can move on to a do some big numbers in a PPV TV bout against Martinez.”

This is almost comical of Arum, because Chavez Jr. wouldn’t stand a chance against a fighter like Martinez. Chavez wouldn’t stand a chance with at least 14 to 16 other top fighters in the middleweight division. He’s only fought two marginally decent fighter during his entire career when he defeated John Duddy and Billy Lyell, both B level fighters. The remainder of Chavez’s opposition has been either low B level or C level fighters.

Arum is going to get Chavez Jr. knocked out if he puts him anywhere near Martinez. I would love to see Chavez Jr. at least try and fight Martinez, because that’s who he should be fighting for the WBC title, not Zbik. However, I don’t think Chavez will do well against Martinez and I would be shocked if Arum were to actually put him in with Martinez given how poorly Chavez looked against Lyell last weekend.



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