By John F. McKenna (McJack): World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1, 30 KO’s) will be defending his title for the first time when he faces challenger Peter Manfredo Jr. (37-6, 20 KO’s).

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum announced on Wednesday night that the fight will be taking place on November 19 at the Reliant Arena in Houston. The fight will be aired on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark”.

Chavez who is 25 years old is the son of Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. He claimed his WBC belt on June 4 in Los Angeles when he won a majority decision against Sebastian Zbik. Chavez was due to defend his title on September 17 in his hometown of Culiacan, Mexico against Ronald Hearns, who is the son of former great Thomas Hearns.
Julio withdrew from that fight three weeks ahead of time due to a hand laceration he received from an overhead ceiling fan.

The November 19 fight between Chavez and Manfredo is a fight that Arum had long hoped to put together and in fact was in the works prior to Julio’s scheduled fight with Hearns.

It had been a long time dream of Chavez, who fights in the shadow of his famous father, to win a world championship and he accomplished that when he defeated Zbik last June. Julio has made it clear that he wants to remain world champion for the rest of his career.

Manfredo, who is 30, first gained fame as a contestant on the “Contender” series in 2005. He was able to use the popularity he gained from the “Contender” to obtain a title shot at super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe in 2007 but was KO’d in the 3rd round.

Manfredo, who is from Providence, Rhode Island, has won six fights in a row since being KO’d in the 3rd round in November 2008 by Sakio Bika. He looks upon his upcoming fight with Chavez as his last opportunity and plans on giving it everything he has. Manfredo had said that if he is unsuccessful in his latest bid to win a world title he will retire.

Manfredo’s promoter Lou Dibella campaigned hard to get Peter his title shot with Chavez and maintains that he has a much better chance to win a world title at middleweight than at super middleweight.

Dibella feels that Manfredo has a very good chance at defeating Chavez and returning to Providence with a title belt.