The most important fight of this weekend takes place between junior welterweight champions Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley on Saturday night in Pontiac, Michigan. Alexander, who trained out of Barry’s Boxing in Las Vegas for the showdown, is a slight underdog and emotions should be high but that clash shouldn’t overshadown another important step in the life of middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. On January 29th Chavez Jr. will face off with rugged journeyman Billy Lyell in his hometown of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico and if successful a May date against WBC champion Sebastian Zbik could be in the works. It’s been over four years since the 24-year old hopeful has fought in Culiacan and he fully understands the importance of returning home.
“I remember that night very well,” a reflective Chavez Jr. said looking back. “I had a lot of support from the fans and it was a very special night. It was my first main event in a big fight at home and I was very excited.”
With Chavez Jr. in camp the past few weeks have been his trainer Freddie Roach and his strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. Chavez linked up with Roach at his Wild Card Boxing Club in April of last year on the heels of a dreadful victory over Troy Rowland at the MGM Grand in November of 2009, on the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto undercard.
Giving his take on Chavez’s potential, Ariza told me earlier this month that the young pupil came into a new world once walking through the doors of the Wild Card.
?I think [Chavez Jr.] has a tremendous amount of potential,” he stated. ” It wasn?t his fault that he didn?t know how to train or how to make weight. I think that was probably the biggest part of what he told me. It?s just funny, we were sitting down last night and he told me ?If I would have known just a little bit of that than I wouldn?t? have struggled to make weight and I wouldn?t have looked like shit in all of these fights. In all of these fights I was killing myself?. Now his fear of making weight is gone and his fear of throwing too many punches too soon is gone. It?s really motivating him.?
If Chavez is somehow able to snatch the WBC trinket by year’s end it would definitely jumpstart his career. He has always seemed to be a fighter who served himself well by using his father’s last name but in his last outing over John Duddy he offered up an impressive display from start to finish. The young fighter is showing himself to have some definite substance to his game and it will be fun seeing how his 2011 campaign unfolds.
