By Jason Kim: Middleweight contender Andy Lee (28-1, 20 KO’s) figures that a big win over WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO’s) will make him a star when he faces the son of boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. on June 16th at the Sun Bowl, in El Paso, Texas, in a fight that will be televised in the U.S on HBO.

Lee said to ESPN “I can beat up Chavez and that will make me a star and then I can beat [Sergio] Martinez and that will make me a superstar. It is very exciting to be two fights away from that.”

I think Lee wouldn’t be a superstar even if beats both of those guys. Chavez Jr. is popular because of fans of his famous father. He has a built in fan base that is already there for him. It doesn’t matter that most of his wins have come against weak opposition, and it doesn’t matter that he’s been carefully matched since he won the paper WBC title against Sebastian Zbik. Chavez Jr. could fight 3rd tier opposition and he’d have great ratings on HBO and fill up stadiums in Texas. He’s got his father’s name and all the fans that used to follow him. Lee can beat Chavez Jr., but he won’t get his fans and he won’t be a huge star in the U.S. like Chavez Jr. Beating Martinez won’t mean a thing because he doesn’t have much of a fan base either the U.S. Chavez Jr. does and he’ll remain incredibly popular even after he gets beaten.

Lee is going to have a hard time because Chavez Jr. because he’s so much bigger and he likes to mug lighter opponents. Chavez Jr. will use his size to rough up and dominate Lee on the inside. He’ll force Lee to fight an inside fight by using his size to crowd him and bump and shove him to the ropes.