By Jim Dower: The June 4th HBO televised fight between the highly popular Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) and WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 KO’s) will be taking place in Los Angeles, California.

The fight will likely draw well in the LA area because Mexican fans of Chavez’s father Julio Cesar Chavez will be coming to see Chavez Jr. fight and try to capture his first world title. Chavez Jr. isn’t as good as his father was at least not yet but he’s steadily improving under the watchful eye of trainer Freddie Roach.

Chavez Jr. is coming off of a lackluster performance, though, against the tough fringe contender Billy Lyell in January. Chavez Jr. won the fight by a 10 round decision but looked slow, heavy and lethargic, like he hadn’t trained as hard as he should.

Chavez Jr. likely misjudged how tough a fighter Lyell is. To be sure, Lyell has lost to quality fighters like James Kirkland and Sebastian Sylvester, but he’s a tough nut to crack. You can’t go out there and beat him without being in a fight.

Chavez Jr. is favored to beat the German Zbik on June 4th. Zbik doesn’t have a lot of punching power but is an accomplished boxer. Chavez will have an advantage power, but he’s going to have to get in close to fully take advantage of it.

Zbik is tough on the outside because of his jab and ability to move. Chavez Jr. has to get in close quarters and bang to the body with hooks and hope to wear down Zbik.