By Gav Duthie: I’ve almost considered Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr 50-2-1 (32) a semi retired fighter over the last 5 years. Despite turning professional in only 2003 he amassed a 46-0-1 record by 2012 before he faced Sergio Martinez. This is a rate of over 5 fights per year, contrast that to today where since the Martinez loss he has fought only 5 times in 5 years.
Chavez is looking to get back on track with a May 6 fight against Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas on the Mexican holiday weekend of ‘Cinco de Mayo’ (May 5th) at a catchweight of 164.5lbs.
A busy Chavez
Despite being 6’1″ tall Chavez Jnr debuted in the Super featherweight division. He fought well and often beating all comers besides a draw with future world champion Carlos Molina who he beat in a rematch. He really made his name as a middleweight a full 30lbs above his original debut weight where he won the WBC middleweight title beating Sebastian Zbik defending it 3 times before losing out to Sergio Martinez despite a late flurry to win knocking Martinez down in round 12.
Chavez fights and respective weight categories
1 – Super featherweight
11 – lightweight
12 – light welterweight (drew with Carlos Molina)
6 – welterweight
11 – Jnr middleweight
8 – middleweight (wbc title sebastian zbik)
3 – catchweight fights (Light heavyweight)
2 – super middleweight
He has largely been lost since Martinez struggling against Brian Vera in the light heavyweight division (Vera never fought above middleweight before). Their rematch involved a minor WBC title so he made super middleweight winning slightly better but lost to Andrezj Fonfara when he moved up again to light heavyweight. Injuries have hampered his progress but he won one fight in 2015 and 2016. For the Canelo fight he needs to be on it the catchweight is 164.5lbs with a $1 million penalty for each lb over.
Can he win against Canelo
Chavez will have a huge size advantage. He is 6’1″ compared to Canelo’s 5’9″ with a 73″ reach to Canelo’s 70″. Chavez used to win his fights due to his superior strength and his ability to bully opponents. Naturally he lost this edge as he moved up in weight. The same thing happened with his Dad when he fought at welterweight and his flurries and body shots had less effect. It was no surprise that he lost to Fonfara as he couldn’t push him around the ring. In watching a lot of Chavez fights recently I’m going to tip him to win. He is a good soild boxer, has a good chin and when he is up for it his work rate is solid. When Amir Khan lost to Canelo he said I should have respected the weight divisions and in this case Canelo should do the same. Up to now all the fights, weights and physical advantages have been with Canelo since he lost to Floyd Mayweather. Now the advantage is with Chavez and I see him winning the fight.