Is Julio Cesar Chavez in Line for Cotto Foreman Winner
Despite being undefeated and ranked as the No. 1 junior middleweight by the WBC, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has become something of a punch line in boxing. Often times, he’s used as an example of a boxer who builds up a glossy record based on fighting lackluster opponents. More often, he is invoked when a writer wants to give an example of the son of a famous boxer who fails to live up to his father’s reputation. For instance, many post-fight analysis of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.’s title defense over Zsolt Bedak earlier this month took pains to say that he had proven himself as a great fighter in his own right and not just someone riding his father’s coat tails “like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.”
However, it might be Chavez Jr. who is laughing soon - all the way to the bank. Several media reports have indicated that he is in line for a shot against the winner of this Saturday’s WBA junior middleweight clash between Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto in Yankee Stadium. According to BoxingScene.com, the fight between Chavez Jr. and the winner of the Foreman vs. Cotto fight would take place in September at multiple possible sites including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Antonio. All three cities have large Hispanic populations, which would be critical to make any fight a potential draw. Chavez Jr. is a popular fighter with Mexican fans largely because of his father, the legendary former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez.
Currently, Chavez Jr. is in line for a mandatory title shot against WBC junior middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. However, there are several reasons to suspect that a fight between the two might not happen any time soon. For one thing, Martinez recently added the WBC and WBO middleweight crowns to his mantle after beating Kelly Pavlik in April. However, he was stripped of the title earlier this week by the WBO for failing to decide which weight class he was going to fight in. Martinez is also rumored to be the fallback opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr. if his bout against Manny Pacquiao falls through.
It also seems unlikely that Chavez Jr.’s promotional team would be very interested in having their man go up against the powerful and dangerous Martinez. The general consensus is that Martinez is simply too strong and talented for Chavez Jr. and would put the challenger at a high risk of being humiliated and having his reputation further damaged.
These factors all play into the reasoning behind the decision of Chavez Jr.’s promoter Fernando Beltran to match him up against either Foreman or Cotto. The belief is that the light-hitting Foreman would give Chavez Jr. the best opportunity to win, while the aging Cotto might be past his peak by the time that a fight against Chavez Jr. happens. Both Foreman and Cotto are managed by Beltran, which makes a potential fight for either man against Chavez Jr. easy and simple to negotiate.
However, Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) can’t start thinking ahead to his first big payday yet. Before he earns the right to face the winner of the Foreman vs. Cotto fight, he first has to defeat John Duddy (29-1, 18 KOs) on May 26 in a PPV card at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Duddy is a legitimate fighter, which is more than can be said for Chavez Jr.’s recent opponents. While he has looked sluggish in recent fights, Chavez Jr. does have the benefit of having current Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach in his corner now. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference working with Roach will make and if Roach can transform Chavez Jr. from a disappointment to a legitimate title contender.
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