By Dan Ambrose: According to fightnews.com, WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) missed four days of training this week for his upcoming fight against former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

You have to wonder what’s going on with the 26-year-old Chavez Jr. that would cause him to miss four days of training. Is he suffering an injury or just not into training? Chavez Jr. has been known to miss training days from time to time for past fights, but you would think that he’d be wired for this fight because this is Chavez Jr’s first real test of his career. He’s faced other fighters but mostly been able to get past them on being the heavier fighter. Martinez is someone that Chavez Jr. will need more than just size to beat. He’ll need to be able to move, he’ll need power and he’ll speed.

Chavez Jr. doesn’t have any of those qualities going for him. He’s slow on his feet, not a huge puncher, and not very fast of hand. His main chance to win is if he can come into the fight with a big weight advantage in a tiny ring and then bull Martinez up against the ropes to work him over with body shots.

Chavez Jr. is a very good body puncher and a lot of the opposition he’s faced recently haven’t been ready to face a body puncher like him. Chavez Jr. has been able to use his size and body punching to dominate guys that were too weak to get off the ropes or who weren’t thinking clearly when they attempted to fight Chavez Jr. from that position.