Chavez claims Sergio Martinez rematches Julio Chavez Jr. on Nov.17

By Boxing News - 09/25/2018 - Comments

Image: Chavez claims Sergio Martinez rematches Julio Chavez Jr. on Nov.17

By Dan Ambrose: Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. says his son former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be facing Sergio ‘Marvilla’ Martinez on November 17 in Texas. The rematch could be streamed on DAZN.

Chavez Jr’s father Julio Sr. appears to be getting ahead of the promoters in leaking the news of the Martinez-Chavez Jr. rematch in Texas. Having the rematch on DAZN means U.S boxing fans will need to subscribe to the streaming service to see it. The fight might not be a big enough one to get a lot of fans to see it if they need to pay. Martinez, 43, will be coming out of retirement to take the fight.

Chavez Sr. wants his son Julio Jr. to retire from boxing if he loses to Martinez. Some would say that he 32-year-old Chavez Jr. should have retired three years ago after his 9th round stoppage loss to Andrzej Fonfara in 2015. Chavez Jr. was awful in that fight, and he’s looked terrible in his matches since then against Marcos Reye, Dominik Britsch and Canelo Alvarez.

Martinez will presumably need to pass a medical exam to find out whether his surgically repaired knee will be able to hold up under the conditions of a fight. Martinez’s right knee looked weak and unable to support his weight in his last fight four years ago against Miguel Cotto in 2014. That was a fight that Martinez likely would have won had he been 100%, but he was a shell of himself in that fight.

Given the four years of inactivity and the condition of Martinez’s right knee, Chavez Jr. has an excellent chance of winning this fight to avenge his earlier defeat to the Argentinean fighter. If Chavez Jr. comes in shape, he might have too much for Martinez with one good leg. It’ll depend on how heavy Chavez Jr. is when he starts training camp. If he’s weighing in the mid-230s like he was when he started his training camp for his last fight against Canelo for their fight in May of 2017, then Martinez will have a good chance of beating him again. Chavez Jr. looked so weak in that fight that he couldn’t throw a punch. It was embarrassing to watch. Canelo looked like he felt sorry for him, and he appeared to be taking it easy on Chavez in letting him last the entire 12 round fight instead of knocking him out, which he clearly could have done had he wanted to. Chavez Jr. can’t afford to start training camp for the Martinez rematch in that kind of condition. There’s not much time before November 17, so if Chavez Jr’s weight is well over 200 pounds still, he’s going to struggle against Martinez.

Martinez beat Chavez Jr. by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision on September 15, 2012. So much time has gone by since that fight. I might be too late to interest the boxing public in a second fight between Martinez and Chavez Jr. (50-3-1, 32 KOs) at this point. Chavez Jr. is no longer a relevant fighter in the sport after suffering losses to Saul Canelo Alvarez and Andrzej Fonfara.

43-year-old Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) hasn’t fought in over four years since his 10th round stoppage loss to Miguel Cotto on June 7, 2014. Martinez’s surgically repaired knee, which he initially injured in the Chavez Jr. fight in 2012. Martinez was able to come back from surgery to defeat Martin Murray by a controversial 12 round decision in 2013. However, after another surgery and a one-year layoff, Martinez lost to Cotto in 2014. After the defeat, Martinez retired. It was thought at the tie that he would retire and not come back.

“It’s a surprise, the negotiations are really very strong, I thought it was a joke about Maravilla Martínez, but it seems to be a fact,” Chávez said to ESPN Deportes. “I know that many people will not like it, but they will see November 17.”

The 2012 Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez fight was on pay-per-view, and it was a disappointment to a lot of boxing fans due to the one-sided nature of the contest. Except for the 12th round, the fight lacked firework. Martinez put on a boxing clinic in using his hand speed to pick apart the slower, younger Chavez Jr. In the 12th round, Chavez Jr. hurt Martinez with a right hand dropped him. Martinez injured his right knee while falling down. Martinez got back to his feet and was able to make it out of the round without going down again. The judges subsequently gave Martinez the victory by the scores 117-110, 118-109 and 118-109.

“I think we all have a new opportunity in life, this is the opportunity for Julio to get back in his weight,” Chavez said. ”Let’s see. If his weight does not give the width, he will definitely retire, otherwise he will keep fighting,” Chavez said.

Chavez Jr. might be able to get some paydays against certain fighters if he beats Martinez, but it’s highly unlikely that he’s going to be able to be a factor a 168 given his lack of dedication, and all the inactivity that he’s had in the last six years. Chavez Jr. has been fighting, but he hasn’t been as active as he should have been for him to stay sharp. Chavez Jr. has made a lot of money in his fights with Martinez and Canelo. A second fight against Martinez will give Chavez Jr. a good payday, but not likely anywhere near what he made in the first fight.

There’s some rematches that shouldn’t happen due to them hurting the sport of boxing. Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez 2 is one of them. This is a fight that is almost certain to disappoint. Martinez’s right knee is likely going to be a problem for him. Chavez Jr. has looked so bad in his recent fight, and his weight is likely going to be a problem for him unless they agree to hold the fight at 175. Chavez Jr. is clearly not able to make 168 without starving himself. The younger fans are not going to be excited at seeing Chavez Jr. and Martinez fight. These two are well before the time of the younger boxing fans.