Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

What’s Next for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.?

On Cinco De Mayo weekend, fight fans crowded the Las Vegas strip for what promised to be a long-awaited showdown between the two most well known Mexican fighters in boxing.

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Photo by Ed Mulholland/HBO

On Cinco De Mayo weekend, fight fans crowded the Las Vegas strip for what promised to be a long-awaited showdown between the two most well known Mexican fighters in boxing.

A sea of 20,000 plus fans covered in red, white and green made their way inside of T-Mobile Arena Saturday night and cheered on their respective Mexican heroes.

With a fighter like Canelo Alvarez, you know what you’re going to get. Alvarez is going to give you heart, dedication, focus and if nothing else, a will to win. You would think that the spawn of boxing royalty would possess some of the same qualities, but if there’s ever been an exception, it’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Come fight night there were too many unknowns to determine what sort of fight we would get, but historically when you put two Mexican guys in a ring together, you tend to get action.

This was not the case as Chavez Jr. was obliterated every second of every one of the 12 rounds. Perhaps it was the weight, maybe Alvarez is just too skilled, or a combination of both.

Now the question is, what’s next for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.?

The people of Mexico, boxing fans and even Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. have run out of excuses to defend Jr. To be fair, no matter what Chavez Jr. did in his career, he would never live up to the name of his father.

The fact that he was billed as the spoiled rich kid is one thing, but playing the part is another. Year after year, Chavez Jr. was given the benefit of the doubt and many still had hope for him becoming the heir apparent to his father’s legacy.

Saturday night proved that the throne now firmly belongs to Canelo Alvarez.

The performance that Chavez Jr. gave this past weekend may have been the last straw, even for his most devoted followers. In recent interviews, Chavez Sr. was quoted saying he would seriously consider talking with his son about retirement if he did not see a drastic change in character and work ethic.

It’s difficult to say if fans even want to see Chavez Jr. fight again. The boxing community can be stubborn and a performance like that is hard to forget.

Regardless of critics, fighters or even his father, Chavez Jr. has always made his own decisions. Chavez Jr. does have options if he chooses to stay in the Super Middleweight division. Economically, his best option would perhaps be a fight with fellow Mexican and WBO Champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (35-0, 25 KOs).

A name that had also been rumored prior to his Canelo matchup was Badou Jack (21-1, 12 KOs), but Jack has elected to move up to Light Heavyweight.

It doesn’t seem like Chavez Jr. will be headlining anymore pay-per-view cards anytime soon, and with money he made this past weekend to play a punching bag, he can take a nice hiatus.

If Chavez Jr. even has a microscopic desire to be taken seriously, he won’t take a break for very long.

Perhaps now, having pushed his body to 164.5 pounds, he may be able to throw his hat against some of the world champions at 168.

In the end, Chavez Jr. will do whatever Chavez Jr. wants and will give little-to-no attention to his critics’ words.

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