By Dan Ambrose: This Saturday night number #1 ranked WBC middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) will be making his first stab at the big time when he takes on WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 KO’s) for the World Boxing Council title at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. Also on the same card, #1 WBO & #4 WBC junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan (29-0, 18 KO’s) will be facing 30-year-old Saul Roman (34-8, 29 KO’s) in a 12 round bout for the vacant WBC Silver light middleweight title in a WBC semi-final title eliminator.

I’ve never heard of a semi-final eliminator before but looks like the WBC has come up with a way to prolong the choosing of a mandatory challenger for WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez.

Chavez-Zbik could be an interesting fight if the two turn the fight into a brawl. However, Zbik, 29, is more of a boxer/puncher than someone that just looks to slug all night look. Zbik is a European fighter and doesn’t fight in the same in close manner that Chavez Jr. and his typical opponents do. This is going to be a much different fight for Chavez Jr. than what he’s been accustomed to in the past. Chavez Jr. isn’t a fighter that likes to bomb from long range and he doesn’t generally throw a lot of jabs. That’s Zbik’s forte. Zbik likes to throw jabs and fight from the distance. This is going to make it a little tougher for Chavez Jr. than he’s used to. He’s going to have to try and walk Zbik down and keep him in one place if Chavez Jr. wants to win the fight without any kind of controversy. The bout is taking place in Los Angeles, so Chavez Jr., who comes from nearby Mexico, will be more of the home fighter compared to the German Zbik.

Martirosyan night very well be the best fighter on the card on Saturday night. He already showed that he looks to be a level above Chavez Jr. when the two sparred recently during media day. Martirosyan totally dominated Chavez Jr. and looks much faster and stronger than him. If the two were fighting on Saturday, I would easily pick Martirosyan by a lopsided decision or perhaps even a knockout. He just looks a lot better than Chavez Jr. right now. As for Martirosyan’s fight against Roman, look for a mismatch. Roman is a puncher but he doesn’t have the same kinds of skills that Martirosyan possesses. Roman could make it interesting for two or three rounds with his power, but by the 4th round Martirosyan will be taking over the fight with his speed and combinations and we should be seeing a knockout shortly after that.