By Eric Thomas: World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1, 30 KO’s) still plans on slipping another fight in between his November 19th fight date by taking on either Ronald Hearns or David Medina on September 24th in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Chavez Jr. is already being mentioned as likely facing No.5 WBC ranked Peter Manfredo Jr for the November 19th fight date.

But by facing either Hearns or Medina, this would give the 25-year-old Chavez Jr another fairly safe title defense. The WBC has given Manfredo a very, very generous ranking to say the least. You can make an argument that Manfredo is more of a bottom 15 type fighter at best given his lack of big wins during his career, and yet he’s ranked near the top by the WBC.

This is perfect for Chavez Jr to get a win and keep his WBC title for a little while longer. You really can’t say any fighter is an easy win for Chavez Jr, because we’ve seen him looking very limited in fights against Sebastian Zbik and Billy Lyell in his last two fights. These are guys that a good middleweight should be able to blow away, and yet Chavez Jr. looked very poor against both of them.

Hearns (26-2, 20 KO’s) is ranked at #15 by the WBC, and was stopped in the 7th round in his last fight by WBC Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm. Hearns, the son of boxing great Tommy Hearns, has never beaten a top tier fighter during his seven year pro career and has lost by knockout in the only two times that he stepped it up against a quality top tier fighter. Sounds like a promising opponent for Chavez.

Medina (23-2, 11 KO’s) is ranked #10 by the WBC, but is only 5’7″, and like Hearns, has never beaten a top tier opponent before. Actually, Medina has never even faced a 1st tier fighter. Sounds like another good opponent for Chavez.

Hearns would likely be considered the better of the two potential opponents for Chavez. I see Chavez Jr. choosing Medina for his September opponent. Medina is much smaller than the 6-foot Chavez and if Chavez Jr. comes into the fight weighing 180 pounds, he’ll be able to do pretty much what he wants with the tiny Medina.