By Dan Ambrose: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has reportedly accepted an offer to face Daniel Jacobs on December 14th, with Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Kal Yafai on the undercard, according to @ChavaESPN. The location for the card will be in either California or Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jacobs vs. Chavez Jr. is expected to take place at super middleweight, but it’s possible it could be at a catchweight at light heavyweight. Former WBC middleweight champion Chavez Jr. (51-3-1, 33 KOs) hasn’t proven that he can fight at super middleweight at a high level.
This would be a business level fight, as Chavez Jr. hasn’t been relevant for many years. His career imploded after a one-sided defeat to Sergio Martinez in 2012. Since then, Chavez Jr. has fought just seven times against mostly mediocre opposition. Chavez Jr. did step it up twice with disastrous consequences in defeats against Andrzej Fonfara and Saul Canelo Alvarez.
Chavez Jr. looked completely over-matched in both fights. Those fights proved that Chavez Jr. can’t exist against upper level fighters, as he falls apart quickly. During Chavez’s career, he’s fought three good fighters in Sergio Martinez, Fonfara and Canelo, and lost badly each time.
In his last fight, Chavez Jr. looked impressive at 175 in stopping journeyman Evert Bravo (25-11-1, 19 KOs) in the 1st round on August 10 in Mexico. That was at light heavyweight though, and there’s no chance that Chavez Jr. can compete in that weight class against the elite fighters. He must fight at 168 if he’s to have any shot at finding success.
Si @jcchavezjr1 acepta la pelea con @DanielJacobsTKO para diciembre 14, en el respaldo podría darse la unificatoria entre @GalloEstradaOfi y @iam_yafai. se habla de California como sede, aunque Las Vegas está como opción B.
— Salvador Rodriguez (@ChavaESPN) September 6, 2019
Chavez Jr. vs. Jacobs = crossroads fight for both
For both of these fighters, they’re both at a crossroads in their career where they can’t afford to suffer another loss. Chavez Jr. has already been proven to unworthy of being rated in the upper tier at 168. He was a decent fighter when he fought at middleweight, but that was mostly because of his huge size advantage over his opposition. Back then, Chavez Jr. was still young enough to melt down to 160 to fight against lighter guys. He never really did fight any of the talented guys during that portion of his career other than Sergio Martinez.
This fight is likely to be a mismatch, as Jacobs is arguably a far better fighter than Chavez Jr. Jacobs’ questionable punch resistance will give Chavez Jr. a chance to win this fight if he can land something big. Other than that, this is going to be a one-sided affair with Jacobs easily beating Chavez.
Jacobs moving up to 168
Danny Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) lost his IBF middleweight title to Saul Canelo Alvarez last May on DAZN. Jacobs gave Canelo a good fight in losing a close 12 round decision. It’s surprising that Jacobs is choosing to move up to 168 though, as there’s no big names for him to fight in this division apart from Canelo. Jacobs is with Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Eddie Hearn, who is interested in putting him in with Callum Smith and Gennady Golovkin again.
Jacobs has already fought Golovkin, and lost to him by a close 12 round decision. The reason for Jacobs’ defeat was the same thing that happened in his loss to Canelo. He was too timid in the first six rounds against GGG, and gave away the fight. Jacobs followed the same pattern in his recent defeat against Canelo Alvarez in doing next to nothing in the first six rounds. With Canelo well ahead, Jacobs was forced to play catch up in the second half of the fight. Jacobs didn’t do enough to get the nod on the scorecards. It was a shame though, because it was a fight that the