Arum excited about a Chavez Jr-Martinez rematch, sees it doing big business

Arum excited about a Chavez Jr-Martinez rematch, sees it doing big businessBy Michael Collins: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum sees nothing but dollar signs in proposed rematch between former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) and Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) for early next year at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas. The pay per view numbers haven’t yet been released for last Saturday’s Chavez Jr-Martinez PPV fight but the word is that the fight did better than what the promoters Arum and Lou Dibella had hoped for.

Arum said to Examiner.com “They want to do an immediate rematch. This fight did unbelievable business. The next fight will do even bigger business.”

I don’t see it quite like Arum. I think the rematch will do well because Chavez Jr. is a popular fighter, and he’ll no doubt he able to pack the Cowboys Stadium with his devoted boxing fans from around the Texas area. However, I don’t think the Chavez Jr-Martinez rematch will do huge business on PPV, because the asking price was steep last Saturday night with a price tag of $49.99 for a card that was pretty much empty of big names and competitive fights.

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Maravilla or Canelo?

Maravilla or Canelo?by Robert Jackson,y photo: Alma Montiel: 2 champions were on full display this past Saturday night and neither one disappointed. Except for a glitch in the 12th round, Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez was dominant, except for a stubborn Josesito Lopez, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was dominant. A case can be made for either man to be the next opponent for one Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.

With Canelo we have a 22 year old WBC 154lb champion whose skillset improves each fight. Facing Jose Lopez in the place of an injured Victor Ortiz, Canelo was supposed to win. Lopez who’d previously campaigned at 140lbs moved up to 154lbs to try and take Canelo’s WBC strap. If Lopez thought that lightning would strike twice as it had struck when he faced Ortiz, he was in for a rude awakening. Extremely focused, conditioned and strong Canelo took nothing for granted and made an early night of it for himself by taking Lopez out in 5. The moments that the always game Lopez had were few and Canelo always had an answer for them. After 4 knockdowns referee Joe Cortez had seen enough and stepped in to protect the overmatched Lopez from himself.

While Canelo was making easy work for himself; a few blocks down the Vegas strip Maravilla stayed true to his pre-fight admonitions to punish Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and that he did, winning rounds 1 – 10 in a workmanlike fashion taking a few from his opponent while giving many more to his foe. In the late rounds of the fight Maravilla with victory all but his began to slow down while also using less movement then he had during the fight. Maravilla was also taunting the youngster – sticking his chin out with his hands down daring his opponent to hit him. In the 12th round Chavez Jr finally caught up to the 37 year old and unleashed the fury he was unable to throughout the fight and down went Maravilla seriously hurt. If only Chavez Jr had more time, maybe he could’ve taken Maravilla out and pulled the upset ,but the master boxer Maravilla used all of his tricks to stay upright, finishing the fight and getting his hand raised.

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Dibella: Boxing deserves a Chavez Jr-Martinez rematch

Dibella: Boxing deserves a Chavez Jr-Martinez rematchBy Michael Collins: Lou Dibella, the promoter for WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, feels that the sport of boxing needs a rematch between Martinez and former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. after last night’s one-sided 12 round decision win by the 37-year-old Martinez over Chavez Jr. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las, Nevada.

Dibella said to the LA Times “Boxing deserves a rematch. My philosophy is when you have lightning in a bottle, don’t let it go. A rematch probably sells out Cowboy Stadium.”

So let me get this straight. Chavez Jr. loses 11 rounds plus the fight, and then gets a rematch out of this? There’s something wrong with this picture because that doesn’t make sense at all. I don’t care that Chavez Jr. knocked Martinez down in the 12th. The fact of the matter is he couldn’t finish him off and it was Martinez who was pummeling Chavez Jr. at the time the 12th round ended.

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Chavez Jr. will have major problems once he’s forced to move up in weight

Chavez Jr. will have major problems once he's forced to move up in weightBy Marcus Richardson: In looking at how utterly clueless Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) was last night in trying to deal with the little bit of movement that Sergio Martinez showed him in winning an lopsided 12 round unanimous decision, it became painfully clear that Chavez Jr’s days as a championship caliber fighter will probably be over once he can no longer make weight for the middleweight division. When the time comes that Chavez Jr. can no longer melt down 180+ to 160 lbs to fight smaller middleweights, I think it’s going to be all over for him in terms of a champion type fighter.

Chavez Jr. is likely going to be completely lost at super middleweight, because those guys are going almost as big as him, but as so much more skilled, versatile and mobile. To be sure, there are some guys that don’t move very well at 168 lbs, like Carl Froch, but he makes up for it by his ability to throw counter shots as soon as he’s hit. But Chavez Jr. showed last night that he’s a fighter with a fighting style from a bygone era that just doesn’t have a place against well schooled fighters that know how to move.

Chavez Jr’s fans are celebrating the fact that he got a knockdown of a much smaller Martinez in the 12th, but he couldn’t even finish him off because of his lack hand speed and footwork.

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Chavez Jr-Martinez could fight rematch in Cowboys Stadium: Anybody want to see another mismatch?

Chavez Jr-Martinez could fight rematch in Cowboys Stadium: Anybody want to see another mismatch?By Michael Collins: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is considering a rematch between his popular fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) and newly crowned WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. However, if the rematch comes off it will likely have to wait until 2013, because Martinez suffered a cut over his left eye that required 8 stitches to close as well as possible torn ligaments in his right knee after falling to the canvas after getting knocked down by Chavez Jr. in the 12th. The torn ligaments may require surgery to heal. The rehabilitation will almost surely keep Martinez out of action for the remainder of 2013.

Martinez and his promoter Lou Dibella are both understandably eager to face Chavez Jr. again. Martinez received $1.4 million for the fight, and he’ll likely get a nice extra chunk of cash on the pay per view upside. A rematch in Texas would likely mean another nice payday for Martinez, although it’s hard to understand why boxing fans would want to pay to see Martinez add Chavez Jr. fight again after last night.

It was completely one-sided until the 12th round when Chavez Jr. was able to hurt Martinez with a right hand and then put him down with a left. Chavez Jr. couldn’t finish the job, however, and actually ended up taking more shots than he was landing after he had Martinez hurt. That was the sad part. Even with Martinez hurt, he was still able to out-land Chavez Jr.

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“Please Stand By” Sergio Wins but With Technical Difficulties!

"Please Stand By" Sergio Wins but With Technical Difficulties!by Paul Strauss: What a night for boxing fans. Between Showtime and HBO, there were more fights than you could shake a stick at. The big record setting one was of course at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV. It was a grudge match pitting Sergio Gabriel “Maravilla” Martinez against the young title usurper with the bloodlines named Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

Simply put, Martinez felt he was unfairly stripped of his middleweight title, and to make matters worse, it was given to this undeserving upstart who happened to be the son of a great fighter. Sergio was uncharacteristically vocal about what he thought was an injustice, and he was determined to set things right. Most of the experts and the odds makers agreed he was likely to be successful. On the other hand, JCC, Jr. was hurt and insulted by Sergio’s comments and determined to make him pay. Both promised knockouts.

Even with hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach’s help, it was thought to be unlikely that JCC, Jr. had the necessary skill and experience to pull off the upset, despite his father having done the seemingly impossible years ago against Meldrick Taylor. That was so long ago (1990), it seemed like a dream.
Critics of Sergio, including JCC, Sr. and Freddie Roach and other boxing purists don’t particularly care for Sergio’s style. When it comes to boxing technique, they feel he lacks fundamentals; although, they begrudgingly agree he is a superior athlete. Consequently, they believed he could be “gotten to” and that JCC, Jr. would be able to do so Saturday night.

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Martinez dominates Chavez Jr; Rigondeaux decisions Marroquin; Macklin crushes Alcine

Martinez dominates Chavez Jr; Rigondeaux decisions Marroquin; Macklin crushes AlcineBy Dwight Chittenden: With the exception of the 12th round, Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) completely dominated a badly over-matched WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) tonight in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Martinez, 37, had to climb off the deck in the 12th round to survive after getting hurt and knocked by a desperate Chavez Jr. However, Chavez Jr. was too slow and inaccurate to finish off Martinez when he had him where he wanted him. The final judges’ scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110, all for Martinez.

Chavez Jr. couldn’t get into the fight in the first 11 rounds, as he was too slow and unable to get his shots off. With Martinez constantly moving, Chavez Jr. looked completely clueless with what to do. His past opponents had always been stationary for him to use his body attack on them while they stood against the ropes for him. But Martinez was going to play Chavez Jr’s game and stayed on the move the entire fight.

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Atlas: Chavez Jr. is too slow, too predictable and will get taken apart by Sergio Martinez

Atlas: Chavez Jr. is too slow, too predictable and will get taken apart by Sergio Martinez(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Michael Collins: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas doesn’t think that WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has the skills or the hand speed to beat a talented fighter like Sergio Martinez tonight in their fight in Las Vegas. Atlas is one of the many people who feel that Chavez Jr’s weight advantage will be meaningless for him because of Martinez mobility.

Atlas said “Chavez Jr. is a little too slow, too predictable, right down the middle. He’s not hard to hit; He likes to go to the body. He’s not going to get his way with Martinez. Martinez is going to knock him out late in the fight. He’s going to take him apart like a surgeon taking someone apart and just operates on them. I think he [Martinez] has quicker hands, better experience, confidence, everything, the whole package and his feet. Martinez uses his legs real well to get angles and to do his job.”

I think Atlas pretty much summed up my thoughts on the fight in an excellent manner. Chavez Jr. is a big guy and is young, but his whole style of fighting is suited more for the stationary opposition that his promoter Bob Arum has been matching against him up until now. Chavez Jr. is a big slow guy that needs his opponents to stand right there for him to land his shots, preferably with their backs against the ropes. With a big 15 pound weight advantage at times, the 180 pound Chavez Jr. is able to have his way with smaller middleweights and that makes things easy for him.

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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez: Head to Head

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez: Head to Head(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) By Joseph Herron: After over a year of verbal sparring from both camps, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez is finally upon us!

The main event will be broadcast on HBO PPV and can be purchased for $49.95 through your local cable company, satellite provider, or online via www.toprank.com. The four bout televised event will have a start time of 9PM EST/6PM PST.

The two combatants in tonight’s main event own a great amount of disdain for each other and have made public declarations of their mutual hatred. The well documented feud goes back to March of 2011, when HBO rejected Sergio Martinez’s mandatory challenger Sebastian Zbik as a suitable opponent for the former WBC Middleweight Champion.

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Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Is the boxing world counting out Junior too soon?

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Is the boxing world counting out Junior too soon?By Joseph Herron: In what most fight scribes are calling the most impactful 160 pound contest since “Trinidad vs. Hopkins, 2001”, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KOs) will be facing Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs) for the universally recognized Middleweight Championship on Saturday, September 15th, at the sold out Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While most boxing experts and fight scribes were dubbing this superb match-up as a pick-em fight just two short months ago, the estimated probability has dramatically shifted to favor the lineal Middleweight king, “Maravilla” Martinez.

For weeks, rumors have swirled in and around Vegas concerning Junior’s lackadaisical work ethic and relaxed training regimen in preparation for the most important fight of his young career. It was also rumored that elite level trainer Freddie Roach had to be convinced by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum to stay in Junior’s camp for the aforementioned reasons.

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