Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

By Jim Dower: Sometimes it pays off to be the son of a legend. In this case, it’s paid off handsomely for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (36-0-1, 29 KOs)who finds himself ranked #4 in the WBC light middleweight division in spite of the fact that he’s faced almost no real live opponents during his short five year boxing career. This Saturday night, Chavez Jr. takes another small move up the career ladder with a fight against Matt Vanda (38-6, 21 KOs), a fighter with a high pressure, face forward style of fighting much the same as Chavez Jr. In Vanda’s case, however, he’s faced the better competition, which would perhaps explain why he’s got six defeats on his record and Chavez Jr. has none at this time.

I suppose most of his inflated ranking is based on the potential of what he will be rather than what he is now as a fighter, which based on the few average quality fighters that he’s faced, doesn’t appear to a championship caliber fighter at this point.

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By Manuel Perez: Undefeated light middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (36-0-1, 29 KOs) faces his toughest test to date when he goes up against Matt Vanda (38-6, 21 KOs) in scheduled 12-round bout on July 12th, at the Palenque De La Expo, Hermosillo, in Sonora, Mexico. Chavez Jr., 22, the son of former boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez, is hoping to look good against Vanda in order to keep moving up against better opponents and eventually into a title shot in the not too distant future.

Ranked an incredible #5 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) despite not having faced any real tough opposition, Chavez Jr. so far appears not even close to being ready to face tougher opponents, much less a champion. Even now, with one of the weakest champions – Sergio Mora – to hold the WBC belt in some time, Chavez Jr. would likely be in way over his head in a match of this kind, and would very likely find himself bovinely moving around the ring, catching punches from the slick Mora, who would probably make easy work of the young Chavez Jr. At 36-0, Julio has built up a record that looks impressive at first glance, fooling those who are too lazy or incurious enough to dig down deep and find that there’s no there there.

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By Manuel Perez: Undefeated light middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (36-0-1, 29 KOs) will be making his toughest fight of his short career when he takes on Matt Vanda (38-6, 21 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout at the Monterrey, in Nuevo León, Mexico, on July 12th. Chavez Jr., 22, the son of the famous former boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez, is hoping to get an impressive win against the 29 year-old Vanda. Chavez Jr., despite being the son of a former great, hasn’t looked good in quite some time in spite of his still unbeaten record.

Against C-class fighters like Ray Sanchez, Jose Celaya and Tobia Giuseppe Loriga, Chavez Jr. has had to work especially hard to pull out victories, getting hit often and appearing slow. His boxing fans have been quick to point out that he’s only 22, that he’s had virtually no amateur boxing career to speak of before turning and that he’s only now learning how to properly fight. However, Chavez Jr. seems to be missing something in a lot of areas at once, starting with his low punch output problem. That factor in itself has been a problem that’s plagued him constantly in his last three fights, in which he would stand around and wait for too long before letting his hands ago.

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By Manuel Perez: Unbeaten light middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (35-0-1, 28 KOs) continues on with his glacial move towards title contention when he takes on undefeated Italian Tobia Giuseppe Loriga (24-0-1, 6 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout for the WBC Continental Americas light middleweight title this Saturday night at the Plaza de Toros Juriquilla, in Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico. Incredibly, the bout will be shown on PPV, costing $34.95 to watch despite what I consider to be a weak undercard of Hector Velazquez vs. Elio Rojas, Bernabe Conception vs. Torrence Danials and Hector Camacho Jr. vs. Kenny Kost.

For my part, none of these names on the card makes me feel inclined to want to fork over the $39.95 to see the fight, least of all Chavez Jr., 22, who has looked anything but a future champion at light middleweight. I don’t want to be hard on the guy, because he is, after all, still essentially fighting his amateur fights as a professional in that he never had an amateur boxing career. However, even for an amateur, I’ve yet to see any comparisons whatsoever with him and his famous father Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., who piled up many titles along with over 100 wins in his great career.

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By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated junior middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (34-0-1, 27 KOs) will be putting his unbeaten record on the line when he goes up against veteran Jose Celaya (31-3, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at the Domo De La Feria, Leon, in Guanajuato, Mexico. Celaya, 26, a good fighter with excellent amateur credentials – unlike Chavez Jr., whom has none – appears to be the latest of the sacrificial lambs brought in for the slaughter for the 21 year-old Chavez to look good against in the process of beating.

To be sure, this is a gimme fight for Chavez, for Celaya, a fighter with good handspeed and counter punching ability, has a major flaw in his armor – a weak chin. That’s the only weakness that the young Chavez will need, because if anything that he has going for him, which I personally consider not too much, he can certainly punch with decent power. Up to this point, Celaya has fought mostly 3rd tier fighters, few of which most people would consider good fighters. However, in the two occasions that Celaya has stepped it up against a 2nd tier fighter – James Webb and Eduarto Sanchez – he was knocked out.

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