By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s time as a champion could be on verge of ending if he fails to take on his mandatory challenger former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) in his next fight. Jose Sulaiman, the President for the World Boxing Council, said recently that the 25-year-old Chavez Jr. will be forcing the WBC’s hand if he fails to defend his title against Martinez next.
The WBC already ruled at their 49th annual WBC convention in late 2011 that Chavez Jr. had to defend his title against Martinez. Chavez Jr. was allowed to have one fight in between that defense against No.1 WBC contender Marco Antonio Rubio last month, but he now has to defend the title against Martinez. Sulaiman is hoping that Chavez Jr. will voluntarily choose to defend his title against Martinez because it seems that he doesn’t want to have to strip the title from him.
However, Martin Murray, the #7 WBC ranked contender, is being mentioned as Chavez Jr’s next opponent rather than Martinez. It looks as if Chavez Jr. will take that fight rather than defend against Martinez, and thus it will force the WBC to make a decision. The WBC let Chavez Jr. and his promoter Arum to take the fight against Rubio last time out, but it doesn’t look as if they’re going to give Chavez Jr. a free pass on a second time. Sergio Martinez has been making too much of a fuss about being passed over by Chavez Jr. and the WBC not doing anything about it. Sulaiman probably doesn’t want to hear Martinez even more complain about being passed over, and for that reason he’ll likely strip Chavez Jr. of his WBC belt.
It seems highly likely that Arum will have Chavez Jr. ignore Martinez for Chavez Jr’s next title defense in June, and thus this should be Chavez Jr’s last fight as the WBC champion unless the WBC caves in and gives him another free pass to fight who he pleases.
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