By Dan Ambrose: Having been caught by a positive drug test for marijuana metabolites, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has reportedly issued an apology on his social networking twitter site. Chavez Jr, 26, tested positive for marijuana following his 12 round decision loss to Sergio Martinez last Saturday night, and the result of which could lead to Chavez Jr. receiving a long suspension as well as the loss of his purse for the fight.

As quoted by both es.eurosport.yahoo.com and RingTV.com, Chavez Jr, said that he takes “I want to apologize to all those who feel disappointed or aggrieved by my behavior.”

Well, that sounds nice and all, but it’s not likely going to be able to persuade the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversees the determination of the young Chavez Jr’s case, in letting him off the hook for this. It’s Chavez Jr’s third drug offense and he’s already been suspended once in 2009 for Diuretics. Earlier this year, Chavez Jr. had a DUI problem and now the marijuana incident. It’s not three strikes you’re out by means, but it could still lead to Chavez Jr. losing up to a year of his career from a suspension. Chavez Jr. does have something going in his favor and that’s his huge popularity. His fight with Martinez drew 475,000 pay per view buys and he sold out the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Nevada Commission might want to think hard before giving Chavez Jr. a lengthy suspension because they could be hurting themselves in the process by suspending him for a long period of time. Taking Chavez Jr’s purse might be the better thing, because it would show boxers and fans that the Commission is serious about things like fighters testing positive for drugs, but it would be good if they only gave him a small four month suspension.

A short suspension plus his entire purse would be a lot better than suspending Chavez Jr. for an entire year, because he would potentially miss out on at least three fights if he can’t fight for an entire year. Besides the loss of money, it could hurt Chavez Jr. physically because he might lose something during all that time away from the sport. A year of sitting inactive could lead to Chavez Jr. ballooning up in weight to the point where he’ll never be able to make it back down to 160 lbs to fight again without being weight drained.