Chavez Jr. to have hand surgery, hopes to fight in December

By Boxing News - 08/21/2015 - Comments

Image: Chavez Jr. to have hand surgery, hopes to fight in DecemberBy Dan Ambrose: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (49-2-1, 32 KOs) will be having hand surgery on a fracture of his left hand he sustained in his 10 round unanimous decision victory over middleweight Marcos Reyes last July in their catch-weight fight at 170lbs on Premier Boxing Champions in El Paso, Texas.

The 29-year-old Chavez Jr’s left hand hasn’t healed despite him resting it for the past month, and he’s been advised by a doctor to have surgery to fix the problem. Chavez Jr. is hoping that he’ll be able to return to the ring in December to get one more fight in this year. However, he may wind up waiting until January if his hand heals slowly.

“I was supposed to be back in the gym by the end of this month, but the hand kept bothering me, and I was referred to this doctor, who evaluated me again and told me that surgery was necessary, which changes my plans, but I hope to come out of this stronger,” Chavez told ESPN Deportes.

Chavez Jr. had to struggle to defeat Marcos Reyes in a fight that should have been an easy fight for him. Chavez Jr. had a huge size and power advantage over the smaller and lighter Reyes. However, Chavez Jr. looked sluggish, and not lean enough to fight hard for three minutes of every round. Chavez Jr. seemed to be only capable of fighting hard for one minute of every round of the fight, and it wasn’t a continue minute. Chavez Jr. would fight hard for 5 to 10 seconds, and then rest while Reyes took control over the rounds. If not for Chavez Jr’s size and power advantage in the fight, he likely would have lost the fight.

If Chavez Jr. is going to have any kind of impact in the 168lb division, he’s going to need to trim off more weight, and get in good enough shape to where he can fight hard for an entire three minute round like he used to be capable of doing in his early to mid-20s. He’s too slow and heavy now for him to compete against the top fighters in the super middleweight division.

Earlier this year, Chavez Jr. was topped in the 10th round in his fight against light heavyweight contender Andrzek Fonfara. Chavez Jr. quit on his stool in between the 9th and 10th rounds. Chavez Jr. had been knocked down in the 9th round by Fonfara. Chavez Jr. later confessed that he hadn’t trained as hard as he should have for the fight, but he chose to take the fight anyway because he felt he could still win. But he found out the hard way that Fonfara was a big puncher and in good shape, as he gave Chavez Jr. a real beating in that fight.

Chavez Jr. said that Fonfara was a lot bigger than him, and that was what gave him problems. But in reality, Fonfara was only taller than Chavez Jr. and not bigger than him in terms of weight. Chavez Jr. has the weight to fight in the light heavyweight division, but obviously he doesn’t have the stamina to carry that weight around for the grueling fights. He doesn’t seem to be able to handle getting hit by light heavyweights either, and that kind of suggests that Chavez Jr’s chin isn’t as great as a lot of boxing fans originally thought it was.

“According to what the doctor said, I’ll be three months without punching with that hand,” Chavez said. “Obviously, I’ll be running and training in what I can so I can be back in December. If not, in January 2016, but I don’t want too much time to pass.”

Chavez Jr. moved up to the 168lb. division in 2013, and he still hasn’t faced a super middleweight since moving up in weight. In Chavez Jr’s four fights since moving up to the 168lb division two years ago, he’s fought middleweights Brian Vera [twice] and Marcos Reyes. The other fight was against Fonfara.

What’s interesting is that three of those four fights took place in the light heavyweight division rather than at super middleweight. Chavez Jr’s first fight with Vera was supposed to have taken place at 168, but Chavez Jr. couldn’t make weight and the fight was then moved up to the light heavyweight division. In Chavez Jr’s recent fight against Reyes, it was supposed to be a fight at super middleweight, but then the weight was pushed up to 170, because he reportedly couldn’t make weight.

Chavez Jr’s best bet and being successful in the future in boxing would be for him to try and find a way back to the 160lb division to campaign as a middleweight. Not only would it give Chavez Jr. his best chance for success, but it would also put him in position to make a great deal of money in fights against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, David Lemieux and Gennady Golovkin.

Getting down to 160 would make it possible for Chavez Jr. to make a lot of money. He’s probably not going to get those guys to move up to 168 to face him. If Chavez Jr. stays at 168, he’ll have far fewer interesting fights that he can make. The best he can do at super middleweight is to fight guys like Gilberto Ramirez, Badou Jack, Andre Ward, James DeGale, and the Dirrell brothers. None of those are big fights.

Chavez Jr. would be a lot tougher if he could fight at middleweight because he would have a huge size advantage over his opponents like he used to when he fought in the 160lb division earlier in his career. Chavez Jr. could make weight at 160, and then rehydrate to the 180s and enjoy a big weight advantage over his opponents much in the same way that Canelo Alvarez is able to enjoy a large weight advantage over his opponents when he boils down from 175 to make 154 or 155 to fight against welterweights and junior middleweights. Canelo then rehydrates to 175 after he makes weight.

If Chavez Jr. had a good nutritionist that lived with him, and an excellent strength and conditioning coach like Alex Ariza that would live with him as well 365 days a year, I think Chavez Jr. could make weight at 160. But I think it would require that he train year round instead of him just training during his training camps before his fights.

Chavez Jr. can’t afford to use his training camps as fat farms to burn off the blubber that he’s put on while not training. It takes too much time to burn off all the fat that Chavez Jr. puts on, and he’s not able to make weight even in the super middleweight division at 168. But if Chavez Jr. could keep Ariza with him for 365 days, along with a good nutritionist, I could see Chavez Jr. being able to fight at middleweight again, and make big money in fights against Golovkin, Canelo and Cotto. Those fights would make Chavez Jr. a lot of money. He would also have the opportunity to fight other top fighters from the welterweight division would likely be interested in fighting Chavez Jr. due to his popularity. I think someone like Keith Thurman or Tim Bradley would be possibilities.



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