By Adam Kallanous: Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will square off on May 6 for Cinco De Mayo weekend, but is this just a farce to allow Jr, to cash out on his legendary bloodline?
We haven’t seen much of Jr. in the last few years.
When he was last in prime form is debatable, but most would agree it was back in 2012 when he faced Irishman Andy Lee to defend his WBC title.
After a dominant performance in which he devastated Andy Lee , he attempted to win the lineal middle weight championship from Sergio Martinez later that year.
After being out pointed and marked up for 11 rounds Chavez finally caught up with Martinez in the final round. Martinez was running around the ring with his hands down, landing pot shots, and taunting Jr. until he was hit with a viscous overhand right that changed the fight in an instant. Martinez chose to stand his ground and fight Chavez, only to be hit with a brutal left uppercut that almost sent him through the ropes. He did rise, and finish out the round, but while holding onto Julio in an attempt to eat away the clock, he injured his knees which for the most part ended his career.
In the lead up to fight boxing fans got an up-close look at Chavez Jr.’s training camp due to HBO’s boxing documentary 24/7. Chavez’s training habits were very poor to say the least. He would blow off training completely leaving his then trainer Freddie Roach, waiting in an empty gym.
Later, Chavez Jr. was suspended for nine months and fined a whopping $900,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for failing a drug test following his loss to Sergio Martinez.
What was his drug of choice?
Not steroids, fat burners, or HGH, but marijuana.
It appears as though 24/7 did give an accurate idea of how Chavez had been training. One can speculate what could have happened if the Mexican star had given it his all, and shown up 100% ready for Martinez, but that ship has sailed.
The 9 months lay off was the beginning of the end for Chavez. His first fight after returning was a controversial decision against fringe contender Brian Vera. He never saw the middle weight division again, and even went to light heavy weight to challenge Andrew Fonfara for a vacant title. Fonfara proved too big for Chavez and dropped him with a solid punch in round nine. Jr. rose up, and finished the round strong, but appeared deflated as he headed to his corner. He chose not to continue in between rounds, and never saw the 10nth round.
His most recent fight took place 12/10.2016 against Dominick Britsch. If you never heard of Britsch you’re not alone. He is currently ranked 117th by BoxRec as a middle weight, but is not ranked as a super middle weight at all.
Jr. did make the 168 pound weight limit officially, and appeared to be fit. He didn’t tire, and went the distance, although he did look sluggish, slow, and his punches did not have their usual ferocity. He was unable to stop the obscure contender despite Dominick’s frequent rests on the ropes in a lazy guard position.
With that last performance as a gauge to measure Chavez Jr,’s level of dangerousness he would barely even register.
But what is going on behind the scenes?
A lot of fans, trainers, fighters, x-fighters, etc all believe that the outcome of this fight is almost solely decided by Chavez. Maybe that’s not giving Canelo the respect he deserves, but it could be spot on.
A trained and motivated Chavez Jr. is a dangerous thing in a boxing ring, and his level of dedication to this cause will surely be a factor.
An opinion that holds a lot of water on the subject is that of famed trainer Robert Garcia. Garcia has firsthand knowledge of Jr.’s more recent training habits, and his level of drive. He started training Jr. after his loss to Fonafara and could possibly train Chavez this time around.
Holding the mitts for a fighter, and having them smash your abdomen with only a body protector as protection, gives you a great idea of the fighter’s strength, power, sharpness and ability. He had an inside view on Chavez’s habits, and even has an idea of where his head is coming into this epic Mexican battle. He believes that Jr. will be the stronger more powerful man when they step inside the ring.
He does believe that Chavez will have the motivation needed to make this a fight. He believes the rivalry, and magnitude of this fight will be enough motivation to get the notoriously lackadaisical boxer going.
“It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, with his career, not making weight, when it comes to him against Canelo he does not want to F@#king lose to Canelo.”
Garcia also believes that Chavez will comfortably hit the catch weight limit of 164.5. He confidently stated that Memo will handle that. By Memo he means Angel Guillermo Heredia Hernandez.
For those not familiar, Memo is the strength and conditioning coach responsible for the body transformation of Juan Manuel Marquez. In Marquez’s late 30’s he transformed his body into something out of the Rocky 3 movie.
To lend some credence to Gracias belief there is also some video footage of Jr. on the web, sporting a trim and lean physique in training. You can write off Gracias comments as a potential trainer’s media sales pitch, but his statements make sense.
So sure, on paper Jr. is not much of a threat, and this is purely a GBP money grab, however there are many factors that cannot be seen on paper.
Legacy is one. If Chavez can dethrone Canelo as the current king of boxing, it will catapult his legacy. It will bring him out of his father’s shadow, and prove to the world that he can stand on his own. It would make him a Mexican hero, and change his life, and boxing history forever.
There is a saying about a “Rising Bull”. A bull is considered lazy and unmotivated as it spends most of its time at rest, lying on the ground. When it does find the motivation to rise however, it is extremely dangerous. It’s a 1500 pound beast that will charge whatever has awakened its slumber with the intention of impaling, and trampling it to death. If Canelo has indeed awakened a rising bull what’s on paper will not matter. The heart of a warrior cannot be measured on paper, and the drive inside him is only known to the warrior himself.
Maybe Golden boy does think they spotted a lazy bull, ready to be taken out to pasture, but they might get stuck with the horns on this one. Chavez will be the biggest, most powerful, opponent Alvarez has ever stepped in with. He will not be afraid to take punches, to land his own and will apply pressure not yet known, by the Young Mexican star.
To me a couple things are certain in this fight.
#1. If this is event is not enough to get the fire inside Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. burning, nothing ever will be.
#2. If Chavez jr does show up in peak form, Canelo will be in a war, and the fans will be the biggest winners of the night.
The truth is at this point, only Chavez Jr. really knows. I personally hope we see an Epic Mexican battle worthy of its own full length feature film in the future, but at this point we will have to just wait and see.