By Bradley Pearson: With a combined record of 168-11-3 (134 KO’s) and 14 world titles, Mexican legend Julio César Chávez and Detroit “Hitman” Thomas Hearns have undoubtedly earned “royalty” status within the sport of boxing. Both with a string of memorable fights that will be embedded in the history of the sport for eternity; whether its Hearns brutal first round with Marvin Hagler, or Chávez’ last gasp comeback knockout of Meldrick Taylor in 1990- it didn’t take long for either to become household names, not only in their native country, but worldwide.

But this Fall, its their sons that will face off in a middleweight title bout as two fighter’s quest to fill their fathers shoes collide; adding yet another big fight to the September 17th bill- which stands to be the most anticipated night of boxing in 2011.

Julio César Chávez Jr (43-0-1, 30 KO’s) will defend his WBC middleweight crown when he squares off against the “chosen one” Ronald Hearns in the champions home town in Mexico, in little more than a months time . Hearns (26-2, 20 KO’s) is making his second consecutive attempt at a world title after coming up short in Germany back in February against WBA titlist Felix Sturm. A Michigan native, Hearns hails from an area that maintains a proud roster of well schooled fighters, and at 6ft 3” with a 73” reach, certainly has the physical attributes to trouble the champion, who has faced recent criticism by fans and ringside observers alike for being “too easy to hit”.

Born and raised in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Chávez has clearly been indulged within the Mexican boxing tradition of ‘mixing it up’ in the ring, and being the son of perhaps the greatest Latino fighter of all time, can only further encourage this. Despite Chávez’ height and reach advantages over the majority of typically built middleweight boxers, he insists on fighting on the inside and because of this, emits a real physical presence over his often smaller opponent. While it’s a fair argument that his chin hasn’t really been tested yet, it has to be noted that if he can take a shot even half as good as his father (who went 90 pro bouts without tasting the canvas), Julio Jr will prove an extremely tough man to break down. Due to his fathers polished legacy and popularity among Mexican fight fans, Chávez Jr already has an established fan base, and the combination of his ‘toe-to-toe’ style of fighting and the regularity of bringing his bouts to his homeland, his support will only continue to grow in Mexico- which has proved in the past to hold real significance in terms of having the upper hand in negotiating fights and aspiring into eventually becoming a PPV fighter.

The reigning WBC middleweight champion will be strongly favoured to see off his American adversary’s attempts of dethroning him come September 17th, and a victory for Chávez opens doors for future “mega fights” down the line. It’s rumoured he will fight again in November against former ‘Contender’ finalist and current IBO title holder Peter Manfredo Jr- if true, will be Julio’s 4th bout of 2011. However at 40+ fights, its felt amongst some that Chávez is past the stage in his career of simply “padding his prospect status”, and as a world champion, boxing fans expect to see him elevate himself and take the big fights- although the Mexican’s promoter Bob Arum will no doubt have the final say in that. An all-Mexican clash with WBC junior middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez would light up the sport, and attract millions of viewers- however would require Alvarez to move up a division, and because of the two fighters’ rival promotional companies, Top Rank and Golden Boy, would prove difficult to negotiate. Another mouth watering clash with pound-for-pound ranked Sergio Martinez may well be on the cards for Chávez somewhere down the line, as Julio currently holds the very title Martinez was unjustly stripped of just months ago. Former amateur star Gennady Golovkin also poses a considerable threat at 160 lb’s, although seems an unlikely fight for the WBC title holder due to Golovkin’s lack of mainstream recognition, and wouldn’t present a very good ‘risk-reward’ fight for Julio.

There’s many possible fights out there for Chávez, and what is for sure, is that this guy can bang- demonstrated by his 30 knockouts. It’s of this writers’ opinion that his relentless body work ultimately won him the close majority decision in his last title defence again the well-rounded and previously undefeated German challenger, Sebastian Zbik. With his physical characteristics and offensive arsenal Chavez will certainly prove a tough fight for anybody at 160 lb‘s, and his chances of middleweight supremacy shouldn’t be slept on. Whatever the future holds for Julio César Chávez Jr, it seems two things remain assured- the amount of good bouts available for Julio around 160 lb’s, and that Chávez will continue to bring exciting fights to boxing fans around the globe.

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