Chavez Jr. could KO Canelo says Cuadras

By Boxing News - 02/19/2017 - Comments

Image: Chavez Jr. could KO Canelo says Cuadras

By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC super flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras (35-1, 27 KOs) is giving Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) the edge over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) in their fight three months from now on May 6. Cuadras says that Chavez Jr. is the bigger fighter with more power and with a good chin. He sees that as being a problem for Canelo.

More and more people are starting to select Chavez Jr. as the one who will come out victorious in the fight against the 26-year-old Canelo. It’s not that they don’t see the Golden Boy Promotions star as a good fighter.

It’s just that they feel he’s smaller than Chavez Jr. and not quite talented enough to win the fight. They feel that Canelo has been matched selectively by Golden Boy since his loss to Mayweather Jr. in 2013, and they feel that he’s been kept away from the talented fighters at 154 and 160. They also see Canelo’s habit of fighting at catch-weights as a sign that he’s not capable of fighting the best at their own weight, whether that be junior middleweight or middleweight.

“I think if Chavez Jr. trains hard and has a good training camp, Chavez can win,” said Cuadras to Villianfy about the Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. fight on May 6. “But if he doesn’t prepare himself properly, Canelo can win. He’s really dedicated. He could knockout Canelo. He [Chavez Jr.] has more power. He’s taller and he comes forward. I think Junior should knockout Canelo. But if they go to a decision, then Canelo takes the decision because he’s faster. But, I go for Chavez,” said Cuadras.

Anything is possible for the Canelo-Chavez Jr. fight. If you saw how bad Canelo looked in his last fight in having to battle hard against arguably the weakest champion in the 154lb division in Liam Smith, it tells you that he’s not only capable of losing to Chavez Jr., but to a number of other fighters.

When Chavez Jr. was well-trained in the past, he looked more than capable of beating the Canelo we see struggling against the likes of Liam Smith, Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout. There are a lot of boxing fans who see Canelo as little more than a pampered fighter that isn’t as good as his inflated 48-1 resume. The fact that Canelo hasn’t fought Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, Daniel Jacobs and Demetrius Andrade tells you something. When you see Canelo facing more vulnerable fighters like Amir Khan, Liam Smith, Alfredo Angulo and Miguel Cotto, it suggests that he’s being pumped up by his promoters to make him seem better than he actually is.

Speaking about Chavez Jr’s trainer Nacho Beristain, Cuadras said, “He has a lot of experience. He comes up with great strategies for the day of the fight, and that’s a good card for Chavez to hold. Together, they can be a good team,” said Cuadras.

Beristain is going to likely have Chavez Jr. with an excellent game plan for the Canelo fight. Chavez Jr. has an excellent strength and conditioning coach in Memo Heredia getting him in shape for the fight. Chavez Jr. is already looking in better shape than he has in years. It’s impressive how good Chavez Jr. is looking with him now properly motivated for the fight. If Chavez Jr. had this same motivation for all of his fights since 2012, his career would likely be in a much different place than it is now.

Chavez Jr. didn’t appear to train hard even for his biggest fight of his career against Sergio Martinez. You have to wonder what kind of results Chavez Jr. had gotten if he’d been fully motivated for that fight, and had Beristain and Heredia on his team back then. Chavez Jr. knocked Martinez down in the 12th round of that fight, and that was the only round in which he seemed to fight with motivation. It was a different Chavez Jr. that came out for the 12th round than the one that had fought in the first 11 rounds. It just goes to show you what Chavez Jr. is capable of doing when he’s got his mind right and he’s looking to hurt his opponent.

In talking about why Golden Boy decided to match Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. rather than Gennady Golovkin, Cuadras said, “I think they feel Chavez Jr. is easier, and I think about it, Chavez Jr. is easier than Golovkin. That Golovkin is an animal. If he beats Chavez, then maybe the fight happens this year in September like they said. It falls apart [if Chavez Jr. beats Canelo]. I think the people would rather watch Chavez Jr. then, but I don’t know. In Mexico, they’ve hyped him [Canelo] up too much through television. But people want to see the results. They demand it from him. He should respond to it. He needs to win this fight so that he earns their respect. The same goes for Chavez Jr. He has to win the people over, and hopefully he comes out as an idol to the Mexican people after this fight. I think it’s very difficult for him to always be in his father’s shadow. Since his first fight, they want to see his father Chavez in him,” said Cuadras about Chavez Jr.

If Canelo beats Chavez Jr. and looks good in doing so, then it’s possible that we could see Golden Boy Promotions allow him to fight Triple G. There is still a lot of doubt from the boxing public that Golden Boy will allow Canelo to take the fight with GGG. It’s up to Canelo though, because he can insist that Golden Boy make the fight with Golovkin if he wanted to. If Canelo doesn’t fight Golovkin in September, then you have to assume that the interest wasn’t there on Golden Boy’s fighter.

Cuadras will be fighting David Carmona 20-3-5, 8 KOs) on the undercard of Golovkin’s next fight against Daniel Jacobs on March 18 on HBO pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cuadras has a shot to get a rematch against WBC champion Roman Gonzalez if both fighters win their separate fights on the Golovkin-Jacobs fight card. Gonzlez beat Cuadras by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in September.