Julio Cesar Chavez’s TKO 7 victory over Ireland’s Andy Lee Saturday night at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas was no joke.
Lee was a legitimate challenger and ranked in the Top 10 by three of the four recognized sanctioning bodies. Sure, the Irishman had his weaknesses (defensive lapses and a lack of physical strength being among several glaring deficiencies), but in terms of legitimacy, Lee was on everyone’s short list of quality contenders.
Chavez, making the third defense of his WBC middleweight title, adapted to Lee’s straight-up style and put a serious pounding on the former Olympian. By the end of the contest, the bout was more rout than title challenge.
Now, even the biggest of Chavez Jr. critics has to give the 26-year-old second generation star a healthy dose of respect.
Admittedly, it’s not easy to embrace a fighter like Chavez, who spent years riding his famous last name to everything from headline spots on pay-per-view shows to a gift-wrapped WBC middleweight belt. Even to this day, his arrogant attitude and blatant sense of entitlement rubs many fans the wrong way.
Boxing fans love underdog stories of tough luck pugs beating all odds to make their way to the top. They love their warriors to be humble and gracious in victory as well as defeat. Chavez, however, has never had tough luck and has yet to be an underdog. He travels the celebrity circuit in his native Mexico, dates celebrity women, and never fails to mention how awesome he is whenever given the opportunity.
In the post-fight interview, the defending WBC titlist was characteristically ungracious in victory.
After emphasizing that only leg cramps prevented him from stopping Lee earlier, he want on to give his challenger one last closing shot: “I saw he had nothing…He gave me everything he had, but he couldn’t do anything to me.”
Now, the talks once again begin about a possible bout with true lineal middleweight champ, Sergio Martinez.
But whether that long-awaited bout ever happens, Chavez has, at the very least, earned the right to be considered among the division’s elite. Like him or not, he has fought a recent level of opposition that compares favorably to that of any other middleweight in the sport.
Yeah, it’s hard to give kudos to a fighter who never stops giving himself kudos. But Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is no longer a walking punchline for hardcore boxing fans– He’s for real.
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Paul Magno was a licensed official in the state of Michoacan, Mexico and a close follower of the sport for more than thirty years. His work can also be found on Fox Sports and The Boxing Tribune. In the past, Paul has done work for Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules and Eastside Boxing.
