Mercurial second generation star Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is making yet another comeback. This time, he'll be fighting in Tijuana, September 25 underneath an exhibition bout between his father, Chavez Sr., and Jorge "El Travieso" Arce. His opponent-- Mario Abel Cazares-- however, is a bit of a mystery.
If you turn to Boxrec for some quick info, you'll probably just assume that El Hijo de la Leyenda is getting a hapless stiff as a comeback opponent. After all, the 30-year-old Cazares' resume is as thin and flimsy as a factory-made corn tortilla. Although officially 11-0 with 5 KOs, his opposition has a combined record of 49-85-10 and he's yet to fight outside of the local Mexican gym circuit.
But Cazares, who is originally from Culiacán, Sinaloa like Chavez Jr., used to be a "somebody" in the Mexican fight scene.
The 6-foot-1 super middleweight/light heavyweight was once one of most highly-regarded amateur talents in all of Mexico, who made his boxing debut as an 8-year-old in an exhibition bout against Chavez Jr.'s brother Omar.
Although he amassed a 45-5 record as an amateur, Cazares is best known for beating Saul "Canelo" Alvarez as a 14-year-old in the 2004 Junior Olympics and pushing the future superstar to tears.
"In that Olympic bout Canelo cried at the end. He cried a lot. I think if we fight again, I'll make him cry again," Cazares told the Vanguardia, a Spanish-language news site. "It was a hard fight and, to be honest, it took a lot of effort. But I won 4-to-1."
Rather than leap at a pro career after his amateur run, Cazares opted to go back to school and pursue a career in finance. He would graduate with a degree in Economics from the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa.
But the boxing bug was too strong in him and the one-time teenage prospect would drift back into the boxing life, making his pro debut at 25 in 2015 and working his way into Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, where he has put in some work.
It was at the Wild Card where he'd meet up with one of his personal idols and bond over something they both had in common.
"One day in Los Angeles, when I was training with Freddie Roach, Floyd Mayweather came into the gym. I was sparring and they told him that I had beaten Canelo. He came up to me, smiling, and told me 'we have something in common. We both beat Canelo.' And then he shook my hand. "
From the limited video available of Cazares, he definitely looks more polished than his modest record suggests he should be. And the world already knows just how frustratingly inconsistent Chavez Jr. can be.
So, is an upset in the works for this live stream PPV co-main event?
Probably not. But Cazares, at the very least, is no hapless, hopeless club fighter. And wouldn't it be interesting if the guy managed to make another Mexican star bawl his eyes out?