By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 Ko’s) has a lot riding on his June 4th bout against WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 KO’s) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The World Boxing Council title that will be on the line for the fight is one thing, but more importantly for the 25-year-old Chavez Jr. will be a big money fight against fellow Top Rank fighter Miguel Cotto.

If Chavez Jr. can beat Zbik for the WBC paper title, Chavez Jr. will be getting a big money fight against Cotto in September. It doesn’t matter whether or not Chavez Jr. has the skills to win that fight, the important thing is that he’ll be getting the biggest payday of his career if he can at least get to that match. Few boxing fans actually believe that Chavez Jr. can be even competitive with Cotto, and it’s hard to argue against that when you take a lot at how poor Chavez Jr. looked in a recent sparring session with Vanes Martirosyan or in his last bout against Billy Lyell last January.

Chavez Jr. will likely lose his unbeaten record to Cotto, but he’ll at least get a big payday in getting beaten. Chavez Jr. is a popular fighter among fans in Mexico and in the Mexican community in the United States due in part to his famous father Julio Cesar Chavez, a former multiple world champion. Chavez Jr. doesn’t appear to have the same kind of ability that his father once possessed but he’s a decent contender in the middleweight division. He’s definitely among the best fighters at middleweight, but what seems less unclear is whether he has the skills to compete with top middleweights like Gennady Golovkin, Dimitry Pirog, Sergio Martinez and Zbik. We’re going to find out quickly whether Chavez Jr. can hang with Zbik on June 4th. He might beat him if he can pressure Zbik enough and force him to brawl.