?LITTLE? JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ IMPROVING AS A PRIZEFIGHTER
LOS ANGELES-CA- Overshadowed by Saturday?s perceived controversial decision victory for Timothy Bradley over Manny ?The Congressman? Pacquiao, is this Satuday?s WBC middleweight (160 lb) clash between belt holder Julio Ceasar ?Son of a Legend? Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KOs) and 2004 Irish Olympian Andy Lee (28-1,20 KOs). Chavez, a much improved fighter in the last couple of years who now works with famed trainer Freddie Roach, takes on his toughest test in Lee, a prized pupil of Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward on HBO in the main event live from the Sun Bowl in EL Paso Texas. The bout looks to be an entertaining contrast of styles on paper.
CHAVEZ HAS BEEN ?LEARNING ON THE JOB?
Criticized by being babied by his promoter Top Rank in his early days, the son of Hall of Fame Mexican superstar Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr., who had no amateur career, has racked up some solid wins within the last two years. Defeating solid top middleweights in Sebastian Zbik (30-2, 10 KOs) in his title winning effort, and Marco Antonio Rubio (53-6-1,46 KOs) in a mandatory title defense in February, has added a decent outside game to the brawling inside style of his well known father.
ONCE BEATEN LEE IS UPSET MINDED
Lee, a talented boxer who fights out of the southpaw stance (left-handed), has good power and great tutelage. In his only defeat he was stopped on his feet in the seventh round against Brian Vera (15-1 at the time) in a bout he was winning handily up until that point on the scorecards. Since that setback in 2008 he?s won 13 straight, also avenging the loss in one-sided fashion last November.
WINNER TO FACE ?TRUE? MIDDLEWEIGHT KING SERGIO MARTINEZ Chavez is slated to face Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs) of Argentina fighting out of Oxnard ,CA, if he somehow gets past the Irishman, which no easy task. Martinez, the lineal middleweight champion was stripped of the title that the Mexican now holds. It remains to be seen if he follows through with his promise to face Martinez if he comes out victorious, or if the normally suspect, Mexico based sanctioning body, the WBC headed by Jose Sulaiman, will bypass their own rules and enable Chavez to go in another direction. It?s possible that the Mexican, who normally weighs in at 160 at the day before weigh-in and then balloons up to sometimes over 180 pounds within 24 hours for fights is struggling to make 160 and might decide to move up to the 168 lbs. for his next go round win or lose. It?s been clear that while Chavez has the warrior mentality of his father and probably would fight Martinez tomorrow if it was his choice, he won?t be allowed to by Top Rank president Bob Arum. He?s a huge draw in Mexico and based on how dominant Martinez has been in his last few outings (he?s stopped his last four opponents), his handlers will steer him elsewhere. That being said, Chavez has blossomed into a much better prizefighter than the tall skinny kid who was fighting at 140 lbs in a questionable draw verdict against current 154lb contender Carlos Molina (19-5-2, 6 KOs) in 2005.
