By Aragon Garcia: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (51-3-1, 33 KOs) looks in outstanding shape ahead of his fight this Friday night against Daniel Jacobs (35-3, 19 KOs) live on DAZN from the Talking Stick Resort Arena, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Jacobs a massive favorite
The odds-makers have Jacobs a huge 18 to 1 favorite over Chavez Jr. for this fight, but they could be in for a disappointment. If this is the same Chavez Jr. that we saw in his last fight against Evert Bravo, the odds-makers will be proven wrong.
Jacobs is a stepping stone for Chavez Jr. get him the big world title fights, and the bigger payday matches. If Chavez Jr. can add Jacobs’ name to his resume under the win column, the fight will open doors for him.
Chavez Jr. being written off by many fans
Right now, few boxing fans believe Chavez capable of winning this fight. They’ve already written Chavez Jr. off based on his losses to Canelo Alvarez, Andrzej Fonfara and Sergio Martinez. Those defeats took place a long time ago, and a lot has changed since then for Chavez. That clearly wasn’t Chavez Jr. at his best. When he’s been in top form during his career, he’s done well in beating these guys:
- John Duddy
- Peter Manfredo Jr
- Andy Lee
- Sebastian Zbik
- Marco Antonio Rubio
Chavez Jr. looks powerful, and ready for battle. He’ll be a little lighter than the 175-pounds he weighed in for his last fight against Evert Bravo last August, but his power is expected to be there. Chavez destroyed Bravo by a 1st round knockout, and looked sensational in that fight.
Callum Smith and Saunders on Chavez’s target list
Chavez Jr., 33, worked harder than ever for this fight because he wants to get a title shot against WBA Super World super middleweight champion Callum Smith or WBO 168-lb champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Chavez Jr. has the fire power, and the talent go give Smith and Saunders a lot to think about. Those would be exciting fights for the fans to see how Saunders and Callum respond to the body punching from Chavez Jr.
“I feel I can beat them all and with the right decisions I will get there, and that starts with a win over a great fighter like Jacobs,” said Chavez Jr. about the super middleweights in the top division. “I am a fighter and I take the risks, now I am doing things right.”
It’s been seven years since Chavez Jr. lost his WBC middleweight title to Sergio Martinez in September 2012. He would be the first to admit that he didn’t train as well as he should have for the Martinez fight, and he could have done better. A win the 32-year-old Jacobs will put Chavez Jr. in an excellent position to get a title shot.
A victory or Chavez Jr. over Jacobs will resurrect his career
“This is the right fight to get me back to the top,” said Chavez Jr. “It’s a big risk because of the activity he’s had, but I am not a stepping stone for him, I am ready and I need to win the fight and I know I have the skills and the heart to win,” said Chavez.
Jacobs can punch hard, but he has a chin problem that has been exposed in his losses to Gennadiy Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Pirog. When Jacobs gets hit hard early, he goes into a shell, and fights defensively, and that’s why he lost to those three fighters. Jacobs went into a shell in all three of those fights when he started getting hit hard, and he never came out of it. If Chavez Jr. starts putting hands on Jacobs early, he could go into survival mode automatically, and give away the fight like he did against Canelo and GGG.
Chavez Jr. has only been stopped once in his career in his 16-year professional career, and that was to Fonfara in April 2015. The tragic about that fight is Chavez Jr. didn’t even train for it. If he’d gone through a full camp and put in the hard work like he’s done for this fight, then there’s a chance he wouldn’t have lost to Fonfara.
