It?s hard to think how the aura inside an arena could change so dramatically in just an hour?s time but such was the case last November at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the night was highlighted by Manny Pacquiao?s dramatic 12th round stoppage over Miguel Cotto that had the building electrified, a side note to the card?s lineup will forever be the Middleweight bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Troy Rowland.
Over ten ho-hum rounds Chavez Jr. would edge out his Michigan foe but the two men did little to keep the partisans in attendance amused. While Chavez was able to secure the victory, which is always important, his performance showed that there were elements to his game that were still very much lacking. Some kind of change seemed to be needed and that is exactly the direction that the Sinaloa, Mexico native took next.
In April word spread that Chavez Jr. had hooked up with Freddie Roach and soon he made his way to the trainer?s Wild Card Gym to begin some serious training for this Saturday?s bout with Ireland?s John Duddy. While promoter Bob Arum had some scathing words for the work ethic of Chavez Jr., Roach has been pleasantly surprised.
One man who was able to connect with the young fighter was Welterweight hopeful Rashad Holloway, who recently relocated from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and has been training out of the Wild Card the past few weeks. While the two pugilists may not connect on a personal level, Holloway insists there is a different sense of camaraderie.
?It?s just really a respect amongst fighters,? Holloway stated. ?I see him in gym and he would speak and I would speak and we kept it moving. After we sparred it was definitely a mutual respect. Every time we see each other we greet each other but we really don?t speak much. It?s a mutual respect.?
Holloway recalled that the two fighters went at it during sparring in his first week there and that he admittedly did well, stating ?School was in session?. Despite his success against the awkward Chavez Jr., Holloway is quick to see the upside in the younger fighter and points out that anything can happen in the gym on any given day.
?Oh yeah there are a lot of positives, don?t get me wrong,? Holloway said. ?In the ring you gotta understand that anybody can be outboxed on any given day. Chavez is somewhere that I am not right now, he?s number one in the world. So I would never take anything away from him. There are a lot of guys who are number on the world and they get sparring partners take them to school some day. That?s just boxing. There are world champions who get their ass whopped in the gym.?
Whether or not Chavez Jr. ever reaches the aforementioned championship status remains to be seen but it seems that he made the right move in teaming up with Roach. In closing Holloway points out that the fighter?s improvements have been subtle and his overall progression may take him down the path he desperately craves.
?Chavez is a talented guy. You have to understand that this guy is pretty much green and he?s still learning on the job. He?s had forty-one fights and he?s never had an amateur career so I look at him pretty much as a forty-one fight amateur. That?s how I look at him. He has some talent. He?s a big guy, he?s rangy, he?s a good puncher, he?s busy and Freddie is really teaching him how to box more and set up his shots. I saw him against one of his sparring partners and he had to throw about forty jabs. It?s an improvement with him. He doesn?t look like the same guy that gets in there and bangs.?
