By Scott Gilfoid: Not surprisingly, Andre Ward was full of nice things to say about Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (47-1-1, 32 KO’s) last night after so-called 10 round unanimous decision win over Brian Vera (23-7, 14 KO’s) last night in Carson, California. While pretty much the entire world was questioning the legitimacy of Chavez Jr’s win, Ward took a different stance by saying it was a fight that could have been ruled a draw.
Ward wants a fight with Chavez Jr. REAL bad, and he’s hoping that fight can take place in early 2014. Chavez Jr. said after the Vera fight that he wants to fight for a world title at 168 next, but I don’t think he has Ward in mind for that fight.
Ward told RingTV “Whether people like it or not, he got his hand raised tonight. That’s a fight [Chavez Jr. vs. Ward] that has to happen. That’s a pay-per-view fight. Chavez Jr. can fight. He’s got a lot of his father in him.”
Chavez Jr. is talking about wanting to fight for a world title at super middleweight in December, and Ward has a fight against Edwin Rodriguez on November 16th. As such, it looks as if Ward and Chavez Jr. want two different things. Ward wants Chavez Jr., but Chavez Jr. appears to be looking at going after a safer bet against one of the other 168 lb. champions.
I know how Ward really wants the Chavez Jr. fight, but I hate to rain on the talented Ward’s parade, but I just don’t see Chavez Jr. wanting a fight with him. Ward is also kidding himself if he thinks a Chavez Jr-Ward fight would be a pay-per-view event. That’s probably not going to happen now, not after Chavez Jr’s terrible performance last night against Vera. Oh yeah, Top Rank can make it a PPV fight, but I seriously doubt that it would draw even 100,000 PPV buys. Chavez Jr. fouled things up with his non-performance against Vera, and the only thing he can do to fix things is to give Vera a rematch to prove that it was a fluke thing.
Bob Arum of Top Rank should immediately start talking about a Vera-Chavez Jr. rematch, and he should be making excuses for him about he wasn’t in top shape. At least some of Chavez Jr’s fans would be pleased with this news, because it would give them the suggestion that Chavez Jr. is looking to fix the decision.
Arum would be making a horrendous mistake if he were to allow Chavez Jr. to fight someone like Ward, because it’s not a winnable fight for Chavez Jr. Ward is too fast and too talented for a mediocre fighter like Chavez Jr.
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