Photo by Esther Lin
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (49-2-1, 32 KOs) was back in his familiar element when he took on unknown challenger Marcos Reyes (33-3-0, 24 KOs) this past Saturday July 18, 2015.
He was out of shape, uninspired and fighting in Texas against a guy who he had a clear size advantage on.
Chavez has built a career off bullying smaller opponents, but then when he stepped in against the bigger Andrzej Fonfara on April 18, 2015, he was battered for nine rounds before quitting on his stool before the 10th.
So he picked up trainer Robert Garcia, who ironically isn’t known for getting his fighters in great shape for weigh in day, and once again stepped on the scale heavy before facing off against Reyes in a matchup that was intended to make Chavez look good.
The fight sucked, the drama that Chavez usually brings into the ring–win or lose–has virtually vanished, and he has become more of a figure who boxing fans roll their eyes at.
Chavez’s size advantage was so obvious you would have sworn you were watching a Cruiserweight fight a Middleweight, but still he wasn’t able to really hurt Reyes, never knocked him down and even staggered a bit down the stretch giving up rounds to his smaller opponent.
The judges scored the bout 97-92, 98-91 and 96-93, a unanimous decision victory for Chavez, but it was an ugly and unimpressive win to say the least.
In his post-fight interview with Showtime’s Jim Gray, Chavez claimed that he would eventually get down to 168 pounds where he wanted to campaign in the future, but anybody who follows Chavez knows this is a joke.
He couldn’t even make 170 pounds this past weekend, and it’s clear now that he might never see 168 pounds again.
Instead he’ll campaign at his own weight, which will be whatever he feels like weighing come weigh in day, probably somewhere between 170-175 pounds.
The problem that Chavez faces is eventually he’s going to have to move up to Light Heavyweight, where he’ll be too small to bully opposition, and will have to abandon the strategy of being a blown up Super Middleweight pushing around Middleweights.
Leaving “The Son of the Legend” in limbo, with nowhere safe to go, let’s take a look at some options for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. moving forward.
