Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., like his father once was, is a boxer. At the young age of 24, Chavez Jr. has already fought a total of 43 fights. He has an impressive ring record of 41 wins, 30 knockouts, zero losses with one draw and one no contest. He has had little amateur background; he fought a total of three amateur fights before deciding to turn pro in September 26, 2003 at age 17. Chavez Jr. won his professional debut, which was fought at super featherweight, by decision against one Jonathan Hernandez.
In 2004, Chavez Jr. fought 11 times, fighting at least once a month except in August of that year. He won all 11 fights, knocking out eight of his opponents and out pointing three. In 2005, his 19-fight winning streak came to a halt when he salvaged a draw against fellow countryman Carlos Molina. After that fight, he once again racked up 17 straight wins before a win over American Troy Rowland was downgraded to a no contest.
Despite his stellar and unblemished record so far, there is no dearth of critics who seem hell bent on making life miserable for the younger Chavez. Some say his impressive record has been padded, that he has been fed a steady supply of club fighters in the course of his career, that he is a spoiled fighter. In his first fight against Matt Vanda, Chavez barely held on for a split decision win to keep his unbeaten record intact. Not a few pundits believed that he won a gift decision. His father, Chavez Sr., insists that his son fought sick in that particular fight and must be given the benefit of the doubt. "I don't like excuses," Chavez Sr. said, talking to TV Azteca in a post-fight interview. "But my son made a super-human effort, he fought sick and wanted to cancel the fight. The doctor gave him a shot because he had a fever after the weigh-in."
Chavez Jr., for his part, didn't blame any illness for his poor showing. "The people wanted me to score a knockout, but I could not," Chavez Jr. said after the fight. "The people are very, very discontented with the result, and what can I tell you? What can I tell you as a fighter? Everything is just very sad. Because of the fight, I don't know what to do. I don't know what I will do. I need to think about it real hard. I am considering retirement."
Chavez Jr. did not retire and instead fought Vanda in a rematch, a fight that the former won, and won convincingly. Yet in the run up to the fight against Irish middleweight contender John Duddy several days ago, a lot of experts predicted Chavez Jr. to lose by knockout. A rejuvenated Chavez Jr., with four-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach at the helm, beat Duddy via unanimous decision to earn the vacant WBC Silver middleweight title. In that fight, Chavez Jr. did not gas out in the championship rounds and showed remarkable poise and a huge heart against the dangerous and courageous Duddy.
Despite the hard-fought win, don't expect the critics to lay off of the younger Chavez.
Chavez Jr.'s greatest challenge does not in fact come in the form of a gloved warrior like himself, standing in the corner of the ring opposite him. His greatest challenge, quite ironically, is trying to deal with the lofty but somewhat unrealistic expectations of people who see in him the second coming of his father.
"La leyenda continua," the ring announcer blurts out every time Chavez Jr. is introduced in a fight. "The legend continues."
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. is in fact, a legend. He retired at age 43 holding a ring record of 107 wins with 86 knockouts, six losses, and two draws. He is one of the greatest fighters of all time. He has won six world titles in three weight divisions: WBC Super Featherweight (1984), WBA Lightweight (1987), WBC Lightweight (1988), WBC Super Lightweight (1989), IBF Light Welterweight (1990), and WBC Super Lightweight (1994). Chavez Sr. also won the Ring Lightweight title in 1988. A list of world champions that Chavez Sr. defeated include Jose Luis Ramírez, Rafael Limón, Rocky Lockridge, Meldrick Taylor, Roger Mayweather, Lonnie Smith, Sammy Fuentes, Héctor "Macho" Camacho, Juan Laporte, Edwin Rosario, Greg Haugen, Tony López, Giovanni Parisi, Joey Gamache, and Frankie Randall.
Chavez Sr. also holds records for most title fights (37), most successful consecutive defenses of most title-fight victories (31), most world titles (27) and most title defenses won by knockout (21). He also holds the longest undefeated streak in boxing history, which is 13 years. The Ring Magazine ranks Chavez Sr. as the 18th greatest fighter of the last 80 years. He was also ranked #50 on Ring Magazine's list of "100 greatest punchers of all time". He ranks #24 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers Of All Time.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., like his father once was, is a boxer. And the comparisons, to be fair for both father and son, should end right there.
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