The Chavez Jr Light Heavyweight Debut
The always colorful Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is back in action this weekend for the first time at a catchweight of 172 lbs.
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Chavez Jr will be looking to put weight troubles of recent years behind him this weekend when he makes his long awaited light-heavyweight debut, but he’s certainly picked a tough foe in Poland’s Andrzej Fonfara.
Fonfara will be looking to make Chavez’s light-heavyweight welcoming party as brutal and as unwelcoming as physically possible. The teak tough Pole holds previous wins over names such as Tommy Karpency, Byron Mitchell and Glen Johnson, so he’s certainly no mug.
He also gave a very good account of himself last year when he fought reigning WBC light-heavyweight champion and feared puncher Adonis Stevenson. Although Fonfara lost a unanimous decision over the 12 rounds, he showed plenty of skills on the night and without doubt established himself as a contender in the division.
He will be motivated to get the re-match with Stevenson no doubt and will be looking at the popular Chavez Jr as a mere obstacle in his way.
The main focus will be on Chavez Jr from a fan perspective. He attracts plenty of attention given his family heritage but also in recent years for less than complimentary reasons, when on a number of occasions he had different issues both with failing to make weight for multiple fights and other outside the ring problems.
However I for one am really excited and looking forward to seeing what type of Chavez Jr turns up on Saturday night. He’s always been an exciting fighter to me, throws lots of combinations and has bad intentions behind most of his shots, amplified by a granite chin.
This could represent an excellent chance the Chavez Jr to put all his troubles behind him and really make a mark in a division where he will no longer be killing himself to make the weight anymore.
I always found it quite remarkable how he was able to make the 160 lbs middleweight limit a few years back when he was champion. The size of him at middleweight was a very tangible advantage he enjoyed.
That advantage will no longer be the case and the main question that needs to be asked is will his power and punch resistance carry up?
You never really know until the night when the guy gets in there. Sparring is great but as many a fighter has mentioned over the years, performing under the lights is a totally different ball game.
Plenty of brilliant boxers through the years have struggled to move up the weights but then again, special fighters have gone through the weight classes with ease at times.
Is Chavez Jr a special, elite level boxer? We’ll find out on Saturday night in what could be a real corker.
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