By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KO’s) has been blessed with being the son of a boxing legend in father Julio Cesar Chavez. Instead of having to toil away in near obscurity and claw his way to the top like Sergio Martinez, Chavez Jr. has been helped along his path with huge crowds flocking to see him fight mostly B and C opposition and high ratings on HBO.

Chavez Jr. even had help in getting a clear path to the WBC title by the World Boxing Council stripping Sergio Martinez, the guy that’ widely considered to the best fighter in the middleweight division, and giving it to the light hitting Sebastian Zbik. So instead of Chavez Jr. having to face Martinez for the title, he was able to fight Zbik and win the belt earlier this year.

Since winning the title, Chavez Jr. has used up his voluntary defense by beating fringe contender Peter Manfredo Jr. by a 5h round TKO on November 19th. Chavez Jr. was finally ordered by the World Boxing Council to face his first real threat of his eight year pro career in Sergio Martinez. But instead of facing him, Chavez Jr. asked the WBC to let him fight Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-, 46 Ko’s) in place of Martinez on February 4th, and that fight appears to be happening unless something happens to derail it such as an appeal by Martinez.

It’s still no picnic for Chavez Jr. to be facing the hard punching Rubio because he’s a lot more dangerous than anyone Chavez has ever faced before. You can’t compare the power that Rubio has in both fists to the best fighters that Chavez has faced.

Here are the best guys that Chavez Jr. has fought during his career:

Sebastian Zbik – light puncher who mostly jabs
John Duddy – a fighter with medium power but slow
Peter Manfredo Jr. – medium power but slow
Billy Lyell – light puncher
Matt Vanda light puncher
Jason LeHoullier light puncher
Troy Rowland light puncher

Rubio is a much bigger puncher than any of these guys that Chavez Jr. has fought before and it’s going to take some really special tricks from Chavez’s trainer and/or promoter for him to be able to get through this fight without getting knocked out. Look for weight penalties, day of the fight weight limits and a lot of mind games from Roach to try and get an advantage for his fighter Chavez. I see Roach trying every trick in the book to throw Rubio off so Chavez Jr. can somehow win this fight.