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Staff Predictions: Chavez Jr. vs. Vera, Lomachenko vs. Salido & Crawford vs. Burns

Saturday, March 1, 2014 marks a big return for the sweet science with three major fights taking place. Read on for Round By Round Boxing‘s staff predictions for Terence Crawford vs. Ricky Burns, Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Orlando Salido and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Bryan Vera.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Bryan Vera

Chavez-Vera Weight 2 Jr. Barron Photo by Porfirio Barron Jr./Round By Round Boxing

Rob Anthony, Contributing Writer

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is at a crossroads in his career. His last two fights were a controversial win over Bryan Vera where he blew past two weight limits of 168 and 172 pounds. The fight before that was a near shutout loss to middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez. If JCC can get passed Vera there are lots of opportunities from 160 to 175 pounds for him. Whether it is Carl Froch, Andre Ward, Adonis Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev, Jean Pascal, Lucian Bute, or Gennady Golovkin. A loss would be devastating for JCC and a lot of the previously listed opportunities would wash away. The question is, has he finally dedicated himself 100 percent to the sport of boxing including the training and the daily hard work it takes to be a successful prizefighter? If he does actually apply himself he has the talent to be a marquee name in the sport for the next several years. But, if he doesn’t; well we’ve seen what happens when he doesn’t already, which are lackluster performances that leave his large Mexican fan base and trainers befuddled. If JCC can finally get it right in the gym and in his mind, he will get back on track and pound out a hard fought victory with the same heavy punches that he delivered in the first fight.

Prediction: Chavez Jr.

 

Gabriel Polanco, Contributing Writer

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is lazy. He has taken advantage of his last name and he has disrespected the sport by the way he has acted in the past, leading up to very important fights. Yet, does that mean he will lose to Bryan Vera this weekend? No, no it doesn’t. It’s sad how Vera can train 100 percent full steam, yet the natural gifts that are bestowed to JCC Jr. (besides judging scores) can easily beat Vera by training at 50 percent. Chavez Jr. is just too naturally gifted. With the first fight being close, even with Jr. in a joke of a training camp, it definitely has me seeing Jr. stopping the very game, but outmatched Vera in the later rounds.

Prediction: Chavez Jr.

 

Lenin Acevedo, Photographer

Despite me not liking this kid [Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.], I think he has a better chance this time around to beat Bryan Vera convincingly. Chavez Jr. is the younger fighter with arguably the better skills. I say he wins this bout via late TKO. Chavez Jr. by late TKO.

Prediction: Chavez Jr.

 

Juan Carlos Burgos, Contributing Writer

I personally thought Bryan Vera won the last bout. I was not a fan of giving the “name” fighter EVERY benefit of the doubt. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has a chance to silence me and those who thought he was undeserving of the decision win. If Chavez Jr. shows any pride in his craft and professionalism he should win, but as we have seen time and time again that is a huge IF. Vera needs to do exactly what he did last time, which is pick his spots and brawl. Vera should give JCC just enough movement to keep him off balance while staying true to his guts-first style. Also, he needs to hope JCC takes him lightly again, which with any other fighter would be virtually impossible, but we are talking about Jr. here. JCC for his part needs to be a professional and come in well trained and in good condition. If he does those things or comes close to doing those things he will be the victor. We have to remember that as bad as JCC looked the first time around, I thought Vera won a very close decision, so Vera has his work cut out for him. I think a slightly more motivated JCC get’s the job done.

Prediction: Chavez Jr.

 

Alejandro Burgos, Editor-in-Chief

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. says he’s had his best training camp since his fight with Andy Lee. In that fight, he steamrolled a legitimate contender. If that version of Chavez Jr. comes into the ring Saturday  night, it will be trouble for Vera. For all his intangibles, Bryan Vera is simply not as naturally gifted as Chavez Jr. and as we saw last fight, even a semi-prepared Jr. can defeat Vera. I am one of the few folks who gave Chavez Jr. the nod that night and I expect an even more convincing victory this time around. With Bob Arum‘s recent statement saying that a possible Gennady Golovkin fight is in the works for Chavez Jr., he has no excuses and should come out looking to make a statement.

Prediction: Chavez Jr.

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