The disappointing career of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the son of the legend, who has never come close to living up to his Hall of Fame father’s legacy, hit rock bottom in his last fight.
He was not in top shape, fought poorly, showed no element of defense and got battered by Andrzej Fonfara, who was way ahead on all three scorecards (89-80, 88-81 and 88-81), before Chavez stunningly quit on his stool after the ninth round.
Now Chavez, the former middleweight titlist, will attempt to pick up the pieces when he faces career middleweight/junior middleweight Marcos Reyes in a 10-round super middleweight bout on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) in the main event of a tripleheader at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
Chavez, (48-2-1, 32 KOs), 29, of Mexico, said he will be better against Reyes (33-2, 24 KOs), 27, of Mexico, although it would be hard for him to be worse than he was against Fonfara.
“I am trying to get back to the level I once was at,” said Chavez, whose career has included two failed drug tests, multiple trainer changes, a DUI arrest and constant issues making weight. “I spent a lot of time out of the ring with non-boxing issues, but now I feel fully focused in the ring.
“I feel more comfortable in the ring and I feel like I have the right tools to win this fight on Saturday. Each fight you must prove something. You need to win and put on a good show. I think the fans will see a great fight on Saturday between two Mexican fighters. When I fight, I try to do my best in the ring.”
When he faced Fonfara, a bona fide light heavyweight contender, the fight was contracted at a maximum of 172 pounds. Chavez, who was 171?, said Fonfara was too heavy for him. The fight with Reyes is at super middleweight, where Chavez said he is better served.
“I think 168 is a good weight class for me,” said Chavez, who has struggled to make 168 pounds for other fights. “Going into my last fight, I had an extended period of time off (13 months) and I didn’t know how my body would respond.”
In the co-feature, Puerto Rico’s McJoe Arroyo (16-0, 8 KOs), 24, a 2008 Olympian, takes on Arthur Villanueva (27-0, 14 KOs), 26, of the Philippines, for a vacant junior bantamweight world title. Up-and-coming junior welterweight Amir Imam (17-0, 14 KOs), 24, of Albany, New York, will face former lightweight title challenger Fernando Angulo (29-9, 16 KOs), 34, of Ecuador, in a 140-pound title eliminator in the opening bout.
So what happened to Chavez – who had elite trainer Joe Goossen in his corner for the first time — against Fonfara?
“I took on a challenge that was tough. I fought somebody who was [naturally] 175 pounds,” Chavez said. “I fought somebody after [13 months] of being inactive. There were a lot of things going on in my career, including the legal problems that I was going through at the same that I was trying to get ready for a fight. It was a tough challenge.
“Even though it was a defeat for me, I feel like I was a better fighter than him. But he was more prepared. I think that those were the factors. I plan to win this next fight.”
The issues Chavez referred to was the legal fight over his contract with Top Rank. Chavez left Top Rank, signed with adviser Al Haymon and litigation ensued. Finally, Top Rank took a seven-figure buyout, and the case was settled.
Chavez claims he is now focused and dedicated, although he has sung that tune before. But once again, Chavez has changed trainers. First, he parted ways with Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, who said Chavez barely trained at all for his 2012 middleweight championship fight with Sergio Martinez (which Chavez lost in a rout), and now Goossen is also gone after one fight.
Next up to see if he can harness Chavez’s talent is Robert Garcia, one of boxing’s most respected trainers, whose stable includes Brandon Rios, Marcos Maidana, brother Mikey Garcia and Evgeny Gradovich. They spent five weeks working together in Riverside, California, rather than at Garcia’s Oxnard gym, which is loaded with talent.
“Training with Robert Garcia has been great. I have a great connection with him because he knows how fighters are feeling in the ring,” Chavez said of the former junior lightweight world titleholder. “I am working more on my jab, I have changed a little bit of my style under Robert Garcia.”
“I’m not planning on losing. I’m planning on winning. When I fight at my weight I can beat anybody. There’s nobody in boxing who can beat me when I fight at my weight. I feel right now that I’m at the best. I feel this is the best part of my career. And on (Saturday) I’m going to win.” Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Garcia said he has been pleased by Chavez’s effort, although Goossen said the same thing.
“All I can say is that he has showed me something that I didn’t expect,” Garcia said. “All I heard from the fans and the media was the way he conducted his training camps, but I was surprised. I got nothing but good results. He showed up to the gym every day and did everything he was supposed to do.
“He has sparred just around 100 rounds. That’s more than he has done in any other training camp. The training camp was much easier than I expected. I’m training Julio not just to beat Marcos Reyes, but I’m training Julio to get him better for three or four fights from now, to look at something real big. This is the biggest opportunity in Reyes’ career, so we must be ready for him. He also has a great trainer in Nacho Beristain, who may be the best trainer ever, so we must be ready for that too.”
Reyes said he plans to ruin Chavez’s comeback plans.
“I am so excited for this opportunity to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I have been counting down the days,” Reyes said. “I am not sure how it will end, but I know that I want the knockout. But I have the preparation for 10 rounds so I just know I am going to win.
“I’m the one who’ll show everybody that I’m a better fighter than him. I’ve proven to be a good fighter in my career, but I’m hungry to be something more. I want to make a name for myself. I’m not intimidated. I want to beat Chavez so I can fight with the best. When they told me about the Chavez fight, I couldn’t believe it. I just said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ I just didn’t care about anything but making the fight. I wanted this fight to happen so badly. I’m a 160-pound fighter, but I really didn’t care about the size difference. I just wanted the chance against him.”
If all goes well, Chavez said he hopes to fight twice more before the end of the year. That would mean four fights in 2015 for Chavez, which he has not done since 2008, well before he won a middleweight title.
“I will have two more fights this year, but I can’t look past this Saturday. I respect my opponent, because all my opponents are looking to beat me,” Chavez said.
Garcia said Chavez will be ready Saturday, as well as for the other bouts this year.
“Right after Julio’s loss to Fonfara, he got right back in the gym to prepare for this fight,” Garcia said. “He wants to fight on Saturday and then have two more fights before the end of the year. I think this is exactly what Julio needs, to stay active. The fighters that fight just once or twice a year lose their rhythm.”
Before anyone can plan two more fights for Chavez, however, he must win Saturday or all bets are off.
“I’m not planning on losing. I’m planning on winning. When I fight at my weight, I can beat anybody,” Chavez said. “There’s nobody in boxing who can beat me when I fight at my weight. I feel right now that I’m at the best. I feel this is the best part of my career. And on [Saturday] I’m going to win.
“If I lost this fight then it would make me think about retiring because this is not the type of rival that should beat me. The [other] type of rivals that I fought are much better and tougher than this rival.”
Chavez Sr. agrees with his son.
“This fight is a must-win fight for my son. He cannot lose,” he said. “It will hurt his career very much to lose again.”
