By Jason Kim: It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s management selected Andy Lee (28-1, 20 KO’s) rather than undefeated junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan for Chavez Jr. to fight on June 16th at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Lee, 27, has already been beaten Brian Vera by a 7th round stoppage four years ago and he’s susceptible to getting hurt when he takes hard shots.

Martirosyan dominated Chavez Jr. in a sparring session not too long ago. It was completely one-sided with Martirosyan almost making Chavez Jr. look silly in comparison. Martirosyan obviously was seen as a bad match-up for Chavez Jr. due to his speed, movement and ability to punch. Martirosyan may not be a southpaw like Lee, but he’s still likely considered too dangerous because of his punching power. You really have to see the video of the Chavez-Martirosyan sparring session to know what I’m talking about. Chavez Jr. was completely dominated during every minute of action and looked like someone who didn’t belong in the same ring with Martirosyan. Since then, Martirosyan has badly wanted to get a fight against Chavez Jr. but has been completely ignored.

Lee does have a reasonable chance if he can put on a little weight. He typically comes into his fights weighing in the low 160s and looks painfully thin for a 6’2″ middleweight. Since Chavez Jr. is likely going to come into the fight weighing 180+ and is almost as tall as Lee, it’s going to be tough on Lee to try and win this fight because he’ll effectively be fighting a cruiserweight. Chavez Jr. doesn’t have cruiserweight like power nor does he have light heavyweight power, but all that weight helps him absorb hard shots and enables him to bully lighter guys on the inside.