Photo by Isamael Gallardo/RBRBoxing
After his embarrassing loss to Canelo Alvarez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. admitted to ESPN Deportes that he had eaten very little in the final two weeks of preparation in order to make weight for the fight, which took place last Saturday on May 6, 2017 at the T-Mobile Arena.
It was, however, quite obvious that that was going to be the case because he had not weighed in at less than 167 pounds since his loss to Sergio Martinez in 2012 on a night in which, if the reader will remember, Alvarez took on Josesito Lopez. The two competed on different channels, HBO for Chavez Jr. and Showtime for Alvarez.
A lot can change in five years.
“They can criticize with justification, but nobody knows the superhuman effort that I made to make weight,” Chavez told ESPN.
“I have taken the criticism in good faith and I will continue working hard, in fact in two weeks I will go to Mexico to train with Nacho Beristain.”
It is doubtful if anyone will take him seriously after his defeat against Alvarez, but as this past week demonstrated to the many fans–perhaps 1 million, as ESPN’s Dan Rafael noted–that bought pay-per-views, even a little hope is enough to cheer on the prodigal son in Chavez Jr.
No official numbers yet for #CaneloChavez PPV but I'm told it will be at least 1 million buys. A huge number for the fight. #boxing
— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) May 9, 2017
Most of that was Alvarez, of course. But some of that was the hope that a motivated Chavez Jr. could be a threat in the Middleweight division.
More important, however, is that the Canelo-Chavez fight demonstrated the problem with making huge demands on the body in order to make weight, which usually happens for a big fight.
“Nobody thought that I’d make weight, but that made me not have energy. During the final two weeks, I ate very little–the final week, almost nothing. My mind wanted to, but my body didn’t respond. I had conditioning, but no strength,” Chavez told ESPN.
The problem, again, is that he had not weighed that much since 2012. Another problem is that his statement goes without saying: How else could he have made weight?
It appears that he will continue to fight at 168 pounds. Nevertheless, what are your thoughts?
Should huge demands regarding weight be made in order to make big fights? Let us know in the comments section below.
All quotes translated by Gabe Rivas
Header photo by Ed Mulholland/HBO
