Julio Cesar Chavez JR: The Miguel Cotto Challenge
By Gina L. Caliboso
In boxing, family ties can be a successful venture – at first. Just thinking here – think father and son Mosley, father and son Jones, father and son Cotto, the Klitschko brothers, and last but not certainly least, the Mayweathers – father and son Floyd Mayweather and good Uncle Roger.
But I’d now like to mention another family tie. Julio Cesar Chavez, 107-6, 84 KO’s. Wait, let me clarify, Julio Cesar (JC) Chavez, JR, 41-0, 30 KO’s. It is a rather sensitive subject to approach if whether Junior (son) can do as well as Senior (father). In this case, I’d argue that Chavez Junior will face a lifelong comparison to his father – no doubt. But I’d also point out that he’s making a name for himself outside of the weight divisions that his father once dominated.
At 6 feet and fighting at middleweight, Junior seems well on his way to step out of the shadow of his father and make some boxing history of his own. At 24, Chavez JR is set to fight champion fighter Miguel Angel Cotto, 35-2, 28 KO’s for the WBA World Light middleweight title in a scheduled 12 round bout on December 4, 2010.
I had to do a double take when I looked at Chavez, JR’s fight record. He’s fought a lot in his relatively young career, but he hasn’t quite had the knockout attention that he should have based on his name. Chavez, JR has gone relatively unnoticed, climbing his way through a weight division that now has a lot of strong fighters among its ranks.
Currently ranked #13 among middleweights, Chavez JR is taking a shot at the light middleweight belt that Cotto currently holds. But I think he should have agreed to a tune up bout with someone that could have been competitive with him and really challenge his talent. Most importantly, Chavez JR needed to put his foot in the water before deciding to jump right in. Right now, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, 45-2, 24 KO’s and Kelly “Ghost” Pavlik, 36-2, 32 KO’s are ranked #1 and #2 among middleweights.
Chavez JR would have made for a good matchup with Pavlik. Pavlik needs to revamp his career and Chavez JR needs to build his career against more solid fighters.
But enough about who he should be fighting, let’s take a look at who has fought. Even with the amount of bouts on his record, Chavez JR has not had quality opponents with the notable exception of John Duddy. His undefeated record should be more impressive than it is, and the caliber of the 30 opponents that he has knocked out is not that high. 30 bouts out of 40 that were won by KO’s – impressive yes, but that kind of KO power doesn’t necessarily transfer against a fighter such as Cotto. Earlier this year, Chavez JR went up against Irish fighter John Duddy, 29-2, 18 KO’s for the vacant WBC Silver Middleweight title. The fight went to a unanimous decision over the course of 12 rounds. Now, is there anyone else worth mentioning on his record? Sadly no, and this may be the detriment to his career.
As for Chavez JR’s opponent, I am a big fan of Cotto. I love his work ethic. I love his boxing style. After his bout with Pacquiao, I would have loved to see a rematch. On pure will and athleticism, Cotto is an excellent and technically competitive boxer. Now, Cotto’s caliber of opponents just reads like the top 10 best boxers list. Going back to 2007, Cotto defeated Zab Judah, 39-6, 27 KO’s for the WBA Welterweight belt with an 11th round TKO. He followed up with a 12 round unanimous decision over Sugar Shane Mosley, 46-6, 39 KO’s.
He forced Alfonso Gomez, 22-4, 11 KO’s into a 5th round RTD followed by a ‘loss’ to Antonio Margarito, 38-6, 27 KO’s in the 11th round by TKO. I recall that fight – the fight that should really be taken off the record and Margarito has yet to be punished for. But as Cotto has put that fight behind him, the rest of us should as well. But I remain wary, as my guy Pacquiao will be facing Margarito in November.
Of course, Cotto followed up with two notable fights in 2009. He fought against Joshua “Grand Master” Clottey, 35-4, 20 KO’s in June and defeated him with a 12 round split decision. Later in November, he went up against Pacquiao, 51-3, 38 KO’s and lost in an 11th round by TKO. But the first round in the Pacquiao bout has me still reeling – the jab and hook that connected cleanly against Pacquiao and Cotto had Pacquiao, if but for a brief moment, stunned.
But as for now, let’s consider Cotto’s bout against Yuri Foreman, 28-1, 8 KO’s. Cotto has made an excellent transition into the light middleweight division. Even as he is one of the smaller fighters height-wise, he fought an excellent match against Foreman. The alliance with trainer Emanuel Steward has Cotto’s jab-hook combination and his athleticism has made Cotto emerge as a much more confident and determined boxer. In the fight against Foreman, Cotto worked a strong jab and he does face a height difference against Chavez as he did against Foreman, but he used his jab to get inside and worked punches to the body.
Chavez JR may have had lot of fights, but because the quality of opponents and the stage of his fights have not been on a more competitive level, this fight against Cotto will force Chavez JR to learn much more about himself as a fighter. I started the article about the success of family ties. While he may have a direct family line to boxing talent, it’s up to Chavez JR to establish his own championship ability.
Chavez JR will definitely fight to win, but given Cotto’s current firepower and confidence, I predict that Cotto will emerge as the winner with a 10th round TKO. But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time for Chavez JR. And at 24, if he can decide for himself the type of championship fighter he decides to be, he should be around just as long as that other guy, the one with the same name – his father – and make a name all of his own – in another weight division, of course.