Is Chavez Jr. The Real Deal?

When I first heard that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was fighting, I laughed. Often times the sons of great fighters do not fair so well in the game, so I did not take him seriously. The few times I did see him fight, I was not terribly impressed. At times he seemed to struggle with very limited opposition and it seemed to me that he was more of a side show attraction, drawing crowds with his name in a cheap effort to make a bit of cash. However it was his fights with a shot Peter Manfredo, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Andy Lee that eventually sold me. It was not so much that he beat up Peter Manfredo, because that is what he was supposed to do, but how good he looked in doing so. He showed a marked improvement from his previous fights, boxing intelligently and applying intelligent pressure. He put his punches together well and showed some decent head movement.

Against Rubio he also showed a level of maturity not often seen in fighters with no amateur experience and limited experience in the pros. Rubio had revitalized his career and had been looking very good as of recent, even stopping highly touted power puncher David Lemeiux. Chavez Jr. grinded out a 12 round unanimous decision against the veteran Rubio. He again showed improvement from his previous fight and seemed to be taking boxing much more serious than he had before. When he signed to fight Andy Lee, I thought it was going to be a disaster for Chavez. Lee, who was trained by the late Emmanuel Steward, is a good solid fighter with a good chin and good power. I was sure that Lee would expose Chavez Jr for what he was, a kid trying to make a buck with his famous name. While he had no doubt improved, I was sure he hadn't improved enough to fight someone like Lee. Boy was I wrong.

Chavez Jr. seemed to walk through all of Lee's artillery without a problem while applying good pressure and showing signs of a vastly improved arsenal and defense. That his chin held up against Lee was impressive enough. This fight showed me that Chavez Jr. was for real. Andy Lee is not an all time great, but he certainly is a world class fighter who can punch. Is Chavez Jr. the real deal? I think so.

The Martinez vs Chavez Jr. fight was a mismatch, I thought. Martinez is a masterful boxer who can make you miss all night and dance circles around you, or blast you out with a single punch. I thought it was unlikely that Chavez Jr. would last a whole 12 rounds, let alone win or even get to Martinez. That being said, Martinez is not perfect. He seems to invite disaster by keeping his hands down, or sometimes standing directly in front of his foe when he doesn't have to. It was not that great of a fight until the last round when Chavez Jr. nearly pulled it out by knocking Martinez down, and nearly out. The crowd was in a frenzy because his dad had done this years ago, knocking out Meldrick Taylor with only seconds to go in the last round. Martinez showed how much of a champion he is by getting up and surviving, barely. He took a serious beating in that last round but had built up such a lead that it didn't matter where it mattered most, the scorecards. If there is a rematch I think Chavez Jr. could pull it out, but he certainly has improved and proven that he is good enough to be in there with championship calibur opponents.