Tag Archives: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Posted on 06/20/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Anderson Silva didn’t need to do it. The mixed martial arts legend had already carved out a Hall of Fame career in the UFC’s octagon and is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. Still, with the chance to face the son of a legend in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Silva simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Before Silva became known for his abilities in the cage, he was an up and coming boxer. Although he hadn’t stepped foot inside the ring since 2005, scoring a second-round stoppage win, he proved that there was little to no ring rust.

In front of a jam-packed crowd at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, the two faced off as the co-main event to the four-round exhibition showdown between Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and Hector Camacho Jr.

Starting off, Silva didn’t appear out of his element. The MMA legend flicked out a strong jab and got right into the face of Chavez Jr. To offset his man, Silva threw several combinations that landed flush. To the credit of Chavez Jr., however, he brushed them off and attempted to get his offense going.

As he was known to do in his MMA career, Silva dropped his hands and used slick head movement to make Chavez Jr. miss. In the process of doing so, Silva also made him pay.

The following round was much of the same. Silva got the better of the exchanges on the outside and pushed the pace. During the bout, Silva had a tendency to lift his foot awkwardly at times before throwing a combination. Chavez Jr. appeared noticeably confused and Silva would immediately capitalize.

Seemingly unaffected by the tricky moves of Silva, Chavez Jr. got things going a bit in the fourth round. He pinned Silva back against the ropes and landed huge shots, looking to end the night. Silva though, never appeared hurt, he simply maneuvered off the ropes and got himself back into the fight.

As the championship rounds of their bout rolled ahead, Silva was seemingly the fresher fighter. He bounced on his toes as if he was going to throw a leg kick, only to hurl a barrage of punches instead. For long stretches, Chavez Jr. stood in the corner with his back against the ropes, waiting for the onslaught to subside. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Silva obliged, letting Chavez Jr. get into the middle of the ring where he would easily outbox his man again.

With the sound of the final bell ringing, Silva immediately jumped onto the ropes in celebration as if to say he won the bout.

He was right.

One judge scoring the contest had it 77-75 in favor of Chavez Jr. but was overruled by the two remaining judges who had it 77-75 in favor of Silva.

With the win officially in his back pocket, Silva shared a heartfelt moment with Canelo Alvarez as he watched from his ringside seat. The two held hands and embraced for several minutes while sharing a few words.

As for what Silva plans to do next, in an interview with Boxinginsider.com earlier this week, the MMA legend revealed that there’s a good chance that this won’t be his last time inside a boxing ring.

Posted on 06/18/2021

By: Hans Themistode

While it may have come as a surprise to Anderson Silva, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been down this road before.

As the two spent the past several months preparing for their eight-round co-main event showdown, which will take place at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, tomorrow night, the pair originally agreed to a contracted weight of 182 pounds.

Silva, who is a former UFC middleweight champion, stepped onto the scales earlier today and easily made the weight. As for Chavez Jr., he failed to do so, weighing 184.4 pounds. As a result, Chavez Jr. was forced to fork over $100k in fees. Now, with Silva’s wallet getting a bit heftier, their contest will go on as scheduled.

While Silva won’t complain about the extra cash, ultimately, he’s disappointed with his opponent’s lack of professionalism.

“Well guys, I’ve been a combat sports professional for over 20 years,” said Silva. ”I’ve always accomplished my duties inside and outside of the ring. The contractual weight for tomorrow’s fight is 182lbs, which I accomplished through months of hard work alongside my team. Unfortunately, my opponent came in at 184.4lbs. Despite this, I will still put on a great show for you all.”

After wrapping a career that many believe places him in the conversation for greatest martial artist of all time, Silva officially hung up his gloves following a knockout loss in the UFC late last year. Although he was content with his decision, when the opportunity to face Chavez Jr. presented itself, Silva simply couldn’t say no.

In the main event of the night, Chavez Jr.’s father, Julio Caesar Chavez Sr., will take on Hector Camacho Jr. in a four-round exhibition.

Posted on 06/18/2021

On the verge of facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the boxing ring, former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, took the time to sit down with the crew to discuss his excitement level for his upcoming fight. 

It’s been over a decade and a half since Silva competed in a fight that restricted him to only boxing rules. Regardless of how new this experience is for him, Silva couldn’t stop smiling as he watches the time slowly tick by until he steps into the ring. To tune into the full conversation, subscribe to Boxing Insider Radio on iTunes, Spotify or simply head over to Boxinginsider.com.

The news was both unexpected and compelling.

After wrapping up a legendary mixed martial arts career, Anderson Silva believed his fighting days were over. At least in MMA.

Just a few months ago, Silva was approached with the opportunity to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as the co-main event to the exhibition contest between Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and Hector Camacho Jr. in Guadalajara Mexico tomorrow night.

During the career of Silva, he’s accomplished just about everything in the MMA world. His UFC middleweight title reign is the longest in history as it spanned 2,457 days. Whenever the greatest of all-time conversation is broached, Silva is smack dab in the middle of it. Yet, no matter how great his career in mixed martial arts was, it’s hard for him to wrap his head around the opportunity he has standing in front of him.

“I’m very excited,” said Silva during an interview with Boxing Insider Radio. “I’m on the same card as Camacho and Julio Cesar Chavez and I go fight with the son. I’m impressed and so lucky. I pray every day and say thank you God for the opportunity, I’m very excited.”

While Silva made his bones in the UFC, before he became a well established star, Silva was a fledgling boxer who was attempting to prove himself. In 1998, Silva made his boxing debut against Osmar Luiz Teixeira, losing via first-round stoppage. Silva wouldn’t return until seven years later in 2005, this time against Julio Cesar De Jesus. The results for his second fight were much more to his liking as Silva picked up the victory via second-round knockout. Considering that he isn’t tied to any fighting organizations at the moment, Silva believes that there’s a good chance that his foray into boxing this weekend, won’t be one and done.

“Everything is possible right now, I don’t need to prove nothing to anybody. Maybe after this fight, I’ll fight Jujitsu or boxing again.”

The career of Silva has often been praised but as for his opponent, Chavez Jr. has received a ton of criticism over the years. His father, who is in the main event against Camacho Jr., won multiple world titles across numerous weight classes and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.

By most, Chavez Sr. is an all-timer. His son, on the other hand, continues to miss weight and has put on on several poor performances. But while his critics might be right, the condemnation of Chavez Jr. is something that Silva ultimately has a problem with.

“A lot of people judge other people but you can’t say nothing when you don’t go inside the ring and do the same job. The people can’t say nothing about Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. because he’s a fighter. Every single person has their own personal problems.”

Posted on 08/27/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Like father, like son. 

Sort of. 

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has fallen short of the legendary name provided by his hall of fame father, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. on several occasions. With high profile losses to Canelo Alvarez, Daniel Jacobs and Sergio Martinez–Chavez Jr. has consistently sullied his last name. 

A lack of motivation and preparation have surrounded his career. Now however, he could be receiving a well needed dose of both. 

Chavez Jr. will return to action in the co main event slot on September 25th, against Mario Abel Cazares. The Mexican native will look to have his hand raised in victory on the night, then quickly exit the ring and take a seat in the front row to watch his father take on fellow Mexican legend Jorge Arce. 

The former three division world champion and 2010 hall of fame inductee, will take on the aforementioned Arce in a three round exhibition that will have mandated headgear. This of course, will be the second contest between these two men under these circumstances. The first came last year, and despite their advanced age, 58 for Chavez and 41 for Arce, the pair put on a crowd pleasing show. 

With nearly 200 wins between them, the outcome of their contest will not be counted on their records. For Chavez Jr. on the other hand, his matchup against Cazares has been sanctioned as an official contest. 

The opportunity to face off against Chavez Jr. is something that Cazares has been screaming for. The fairly unheralded prospect brings to the ring an ostensible amateur pedigree. In the unpaid ranks several years ago, Cazares handed current pound for pound star Canelo Alvarez one of the very few defeats he accumulated in his amateur career. 

For the Chavez household, the entire card will seemingly be a family affair as his youngest son, Omar, will also make an appearance on the card as well. Standing across the ring from him on the night will be undefeated prospect Karim Arce.

Posted on 04/16/2015

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California will be the host site to a Showtime Championship Boxing card featuring the often controversial and highly scrutinized Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Chavez has recently split with Top Rank Promotions after signing with the elusive boxing advisor Al Haymon. Chavez has since claimed that he is recommitted to the sport of boxing, and his new trainer, Joe Goossen, has reiterated Chavez’s claims that his fighter is now fully committed to training.

Junior welterweight prospect Amir Imam will also be fighting on Saturday’s card as he puts his undefeated record on the line against the two loss Walter Castillo.

The following is a preview of both of the televised bouts.

Amir Imam (16-0) vs. Walter Castillo (25-2); Junior Welterweights

The first matchup is between two junior welterweights with impressive records, but one prospect is the real deal and the other is a pretender.

Amir Imam and Walter Castillo are in their athletic primes, twenty-four and twenty-six years old respectively. Imam will have close to a three- inch height advantage over Castillo, and will also have the power and hand speed advantage. Imam also has a reach of seventy-four inches, which is very long for the junior welterweight division. Castillo has eighteen knockouts, including four of his past five fights, while Imam has fourteen knockouts, including four of his past five fights.

Imam had a successful amateur career and was close to making it to the US Olympic Team. However, he lost to Errol Spence in the US Olympic boxing trials and failed to qualify. Spence is considered by most boxing experts to have the highest ceiling of all the members of the 2012 US Olympic boxing team.

A close look at their records reveals that neither boxer has faced the top echelon of the junior welterweight division, but Castillo’s record is the less impressive of the two.

Castillo has only fought outside of South America one time, and that was in his last fight, in which he faced an opponent with a record of 14-18-3.

His two losses have come by split decision. One was to Vicente Mosquera, who is probably the best boxer that Castillo has faced in his career. The other loss was to Eligio Palacios in his pro debut. Palacios now has a record of 6-20. Castillo has no notable wins against a well-known opponent.

Imam’s record is also lacking the big victory over a well-known opponent, but he does have some decent wins on his resume. He has defeated the likes of Fidel Maldonado Jr., Yordenis Ugas, and Jared Robinson. His best wins were against Ugas, who had a good amateur career and Maldonado Jr.

Imam did taste the canvas for the first time in his career against Maldonado, but he was able to dig deep and score four knockdowns and win the bout.

Castillo would seem to have little to no chance of beating Imam, but he also appears to have the power to shock many and score an upset knockout.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1) vs. Andrzej Fonfara (26-3); Light Heavyweights

The main event of the evening will be between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andrzej Fonfara in the light heavyweight division.

It has been over a year since Chavez last fought and he has only fought two times in two-and-a-half years. Fonfara, however, has been very active, and has had five fights in the same time span.

Fonfara will have an inch-and-a-half height advantage over Chavez, and also a three-inch reach advantage. He is also two years younger than Chavez, but both are still in their athletic prime.

Fonfara also has an edge in amateur experience over Chavez. Fonfara had a successful amateur career that includes a gold medal in the Polish Junior Championships. Chavez only had two amateur fights, but he does come from the most famous and popular boxing family in Mexico and has been around the sport of boxing for his entire life.

Chavez has a history with trouble making weight and a lack of dedication to training. He now claims that has changed and he is re-dedicated to the sport with new trainer Joe Goossen, but Chavez started his career as a super featherweight and the light heavyweight division is the heaviest he has ever fought at.

Chavez’s lone loss came to Sergio Martinez and he has defeated the likes of Brian Vera, Andy Lee, Marco Antonio Rubio, Peter Manfredo Jr., Sebastian Zbik, Billy Lyell, and John Duddy. However, Chavez is not known for his knockout power, as he only has one stoppage victory in his past five fights, and it’s unlikely he will become more powerful in the highest weight class he has ever fought at.

Fonfara has three losses on his record, and they have come to Adonis “Superman” Stevenson in a close and action-packed bout, as well as to Derrick Findley and Eberto Medina early on in his career. His notable wins include Doudou Ngumbu, Samuel Miler, Gabriel Campillo, Tommy Karpency, and Glen Johnson. Fonfara is also better suited for the light heavyweight division and is the naturally bigger man in the ring.

Very few boxers can get away with only fighting once a year, and they are usually the elite boxers. Chavez is a good boxer, but he isn’t elite and he certainly shouldn’t be considered an elite boxer in the light heavyweight division.

The time off might hurt Chavez, and he will now be in the ring against a formidable foe with a good chin. If the fight goes the distance, it’s quite possible Chavez gets the nod based on name value only, but he will need to be at his best if he wants to defeat Fonfara.

But this writer thinks Chavez has taken too much time off from the sport in the past two years, and that the active Fonfara will therefore win by a close decision.

Posted on 04/03/2012

By Hans Olson

Hot off his unanimous decision win over Marco Antonio Rubio in February, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is set to return to action on June 16 at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX.

Challenging the “Son of a Legend” for the WBC middleweight title will be Ireland’s Andy Lee.

HBO will televise.

Whoever comes out victorious will likely face the division’s lineal champion, Sergio Martinez, this autumn.

“I want to make sure we get everything solidified so that Sergio gets his big shot at the winner,” said Lee’s promoter Lou DiBella to the USA Today’s Bob Velin.

DiBella, who also promotes Martinez, feels that the fans will be the ultimate winners.

“It’s not often the fans win,” continued DiBella. “Often, our biggest fights aren’t made. Here’s a matchup between two young guys that fans want to see, and here’s finally the writing on the wall that the great older middleweight champion [Martinez], and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and one of the best fighters, in my mind, of the last generation, is going to get a shot at the top young guy in the fall.”

“If the pieces fall the way they’re supposed to, boxing’s the winner and the fans are winners.”

Andy Lee, who moved from his native Ireland to work with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward in Detroit, has had a run of successful fights since his lone career loss to Brian Vera in March of 2008—a loss he avenged on HBO’s air on the undercard of Sergio Martinez vs. Darren Barker last fall. A few months prior, he thrilled in a come-from-behind knockout win over the previously undefeated Craig McEwan.

Lee recently had a stay-busy fight, easily getting rid of the overmatched Saul Duran with a 2nd round TKO.

Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected] Follow @hansolson

Posted on 03/02/2012

According to TMZ, WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been charged with DUI stemming from an arrest earlier this year.

The L.A. City Attorney has decided to hit Chavez with 3 misdemeanor charges: 2 for drunk driving and 1 for driving without a valid license.

If convicted on all counts, Chavez could face up to a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

The boxer is due back in court to face the judge later this month.