By Gerardo Granados: Last night, unbeaten Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1, 30 KO’s) was awarded with the victory against Sebastian Zbik by MD12, thus becoming the first Mexican fighter to conquer a world title in the middleweight division by winning the WBC middleweight belt.

However, perhaps it should have been declared a draw to be fair. It was not easy for Chavez Jr., who was forced to engage for the full twelve rounds to squeak out a win.

According to the punching stats, Chavez Jr. connected with 256 of 786 punches thrown, while Zbik connected with 391 out of 834. If Zbik had been a power puncher instead of a fighter with only moderate power, Chavez Jr. might not have been able to finish the fight due his lack of defense.

Zbik was able to tag Chavez Jr. with ease all night long, and was frequently able to connect him with combinations. But what would have happened if Zbik was not a light hitting boxer? Chavez Jr. unfortunately didn’t inherit from his legendary father Julio Cesar Chavez his iron chin, but in the near future he won’t be protected and he will be forced to engage against better opposition and against power punchers than Zbik. What will happen then? Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams, Saul Alvarez, Dimitry Pirog, Marco Antonio Rubio, Pawel Wolak, Alfredo Angulo, Lucien Bute just to mention a few wouldn’t find problems landing shots against Chavez Jr.

I believe a champion needs to be defensively gifted to be able to last as a champion. It isn’t necessary for the champion to be as good as guys like Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Willie Pep, but he must be able to slip or block power punches. A champion needs to dominate the basic defensive skills such as bob & weave, to grab while in trouble, to dodge, good waist movement, peek a boo defense, clam defense, shoulder roll defense or to be agile enough to move fast inside or outside, the reflexes and time of reaction; rolling a punch is much better than just swallow a clean shot. Also, it is important if a fighter is able to make adjustments. The proper technique and tactical aspects of the game are also necessary do dominate and I believe that even counter-punching is fundamental to develop great defensive skills.

But, what about the newly crowned WBC middleweight champion Chavez Jr? How does he qualify? Are his defensive skills good enough for him to remain a champion long?