“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.

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.

Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. – Preview & Prediction

by Geoffrey Ciani – Ever since Sergio Martinez scored a devastating second round knockout against Paul Williams, he has been gunning for a big name opponent. Unfortunately for Martinez, he was unsuccessful in his attempts to lure boxing superstars Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao into the squared circle. Therefore the 2010 ‘Fighter of the Year’ has been biding his time, having spent the last couple of years taking on lesser known competition in the forms of Serhiy Dzinziruk, Darren Barker, and Matthew Macklin. This Saturday night Martinez will finally get his chance to shine when he takes on Julio Cesar Chavez Junior.

The son of a legend, Chavez’s career was initially viewed as nothing more than a cheap gimmick to cash in on his father’s name. He has since, however, shown vast improvement and began carving out a mark of his own. This was best illustrated in his most recent performance when he overpowered Andy Lee for a seventh round stoppage in June. Chavez is a big strong middleweight who frequently enters the ring well above the official 160 pound middleweight limit on fight night. He is a brutal body puncher whose sheer size and power have enabled him to officially remain undefeated through 48 professional contests.

Chavez Jr. looks BADLY weight drained at weigh-in; Sergio Martinez looks great

Chavez Jr. looks BADLY weight drained at weigh-in; Sergio Martinez looks great By Michael Collins: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) was able to successfully make weight during today’s weigh-in with Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) in Las Vegas, Nevada for their fight tomorrow night. I wasn’t prepared for how badly weight drained Chavez Jr. looked in weighing in at 158 pounds. He looked absolutely terrible, like someone that crawled out of a hospital bed to come in weigh-in. In contrast, Sergio Martinez looked sensation in weighing in at 159 pounds with no signs if being weight drained.

Chavez Jr. looks like he drained off a huge amount of water weight and I’m just wondering if he’s going to be able to put that weight back on still fight at high level. Chavez Jr. has gotten away with this against lesser fighters than Martinez, but I think he’s about to run out of luck tomorrow night when he squares off with the 37-year-old Martinez at the sold out Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Several weeks ago, Chavez Jr. still looked to be in the upper 180s and it looks like he’s drained well over 20 pounds of water weight since them. I know we’ve heard that Chavez Jr. was down to 166 last week, which suggests that he’s been draining water for a while now. But in looking at how painfully thin Chavez Jr. was at the weigh-in today, I don’t see how he can win this fight tomorrow night against Martinez. Chavez Jr. is WAY too thin and he’s going to take a beating in this fight.

Martinez-Chavez Jr: Middleweight Supremacy Awaits

Martinez-Chavez Jr: Middleweight Supremacy Awaits By Padraig Ivory: On Saturday night boxing enthusiasts should be presented with their answer, as one fighter ascends to the peak of the middleweight mountain. The unbiased majority can already envisage the green strap loosely aboard the torso of Argentinean sensation Sergio Martinez. However the silhouette of Mexican fighter Julio Chavez Jr, escaping from the shadow of his much celebrated father, is fast approaching the summit of the 160lb division. The Thomas and Mack Centre will be expecting a raucous atmosphere as the drama unfolds.

Numerically speaking Chavez Jr is the owner of the superior professional record boasting an immaculate 46-0-1, with 32 knockouts racked up to date. In contrast the resume of ‘ Maravilla’ reveals the Oxnard resident has tasted defeat on two occasions since entering the paid ranks. Boxing purists will confirm that numbers are merely that, numbers. The quality of competitor to have bravely stood across the ring from the unorthodox power punching Martinez can lead to only one conclusion when the topic of comparing records is raised.

Roach: Chavez Jr’s resistant to moving up to 168 lbs

Roach: Chavez Jr's resistant to moving up to 168 lbs By Michael Collins: Trainer Freddie Roach says that he’s tried without success to get WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) to move up in weight to the super middleweight division in order for him to not to have to struggle at making the 160 pound middleweight limit. Chavez Jr. has been draining down from over 180 lbs to make weight at 160 for his last handful of fights dating back to 2010.

Chavez Jr. then rehydrates back up to 180 come fight time and is effectively a cruiserweight when he steps inside the ring with his opponents. Thus far he’s been able to get away with it because he’s been able to dominate the smaller and mostly limited opposition that his promoter Bob Arum has matched him up against. However, it’s pretty clear that Chavez Jr. won’t be able to drain down indefinitely. He’s going to reach a point soon to where he can no longer safely make weight for his middleweight fights, and will have to move up to 168.

Roach told RingTV.com “I always say that Chavez should go to 168, but he always disagrees with me. He says he’s okay, but I know that I’ve seen him suffer to make that fight. I believe he would be a stronger fighter at 168….He goes into the ring at 180 or 185, and beats up on smaller guys and it has worked out well for him.”

Prediction: Sergio Martinez to beat Chavez Jr. by KO

Prediction: Sergio Martinez to beat Chavez Jr. by KO By Emilio Camacho, Esq. Several of you have emailed me asking for a prediction for the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. v. Sergio Martinez fight. By popular demand, here it is. First, I want to note that I am making a bold prediction because almost all experts expect the fight to go to decision and most expect Martinez to win on points. I am partly going a step further and here is why.

First, let us look at Chavez. He has youth, great conditioning, a granite chin, a size advantage, and the benefit of having his father’s advice. However, he lacks world-class experience and, the best fighter he faced, Andy Lee, in my opinion, was a overrated. More significantly, Chavez does not use his height advantage at all because his fighting style is better tailored for someone smaller like his father.

Although Roach has attempted to get him boxing a bit more to use his reach advantage, he falls back into brawler mode and looping punches to the body quite easily. Given these considerations, the only way I see Chavez winning this fight is if he is able to slow Martinez down with body shots, get Martinez on the ropes or fighting close, and pound the middle weight champion to submission with his weight advantage and relentless aggression. However, I believe this is unlikely to happen as I will explain after I analyze Martinez’s advantages.

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Just the facts!

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Just the facts! by Robert Jackson: The ‘Just the facts’ series has held court for many fights dating back to the Mayweather/De La Hoya matchup, and since then has offered a technical perspective in regards to the upcoming ‘BIG’ fight, ending with the big reveal. Today’s edition will analyze and try to figure out the viability of ‘the Son of a legend’, and also, Argentina’s own Maravilla. Trainers, training and conditioning, and the all important intangibles will be discussed and dissected.

Trainers

Sergio Martinez’ trainer Pablo Sarmiento is the brother of Martinez’ original trainer Gabriel Sarmiento who guided Maravilla earlier in his career. Pablo first worked the corner of Martinez as head trainer during the Sergei Dziniruk fight, a fight where Martinez got a KO in the late rounds. In the following 2 fights Martinez was able to get KO’s in both fights. The relationship between fighter and trainer appears to be like that of 2 brothers.

Freddie Roach trainer of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, as portrayed during HBO’s 24/7 series at best appears to be just a ‘corner man’. It didn’t look like much gymwork and mitts work that Roach is known for was done between the hall of fame trainer and his charge. Chavez Jr chose odd hours to get his work outs in and worked mitts with another trainer as shown during the 24/7 docudrama. Roach’s disappointment was obvious during the 2 episode series. How close to reality this trainer/fighter relationship no one will know until fight night.

Roach: Sergio Martinez isn’t a great boxer; Chavez Jr. is going to knock him out

By Rob Smith: Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) is going to have to make a believer out of WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) and especially his trainer Freddie Roach, who is predicting a knockout victory for the young 26-year-old Chavez Jr. on Saturday.

JC Chavez Jr. set the trap…has Maravilla already taken the bait?

JC Chavez Jr. set the trap…has Maravilla already taken the bait? By Joseph Herron: Great trainers insist to every fighter who walks through their gym to leave all emotion at the door. The sport of pugilism is not about violence, but built on sportsmanship, discipline, and athleticism.

Most decisions a fighter makes in the ring based on emotion almost always leads to a disappointing result. Adversely, every logical and intellectual judgment made within the hostile confines of the squared circle usually results in a satisfying performance and a victory.

Leading up to this Saturday’s main event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the fighter most affectionately known as “Maravilla” has been uncharacteristically carrying around a sack full of emotion based largely on pride, vengeance, and anger.

Will the universally recognized Middleweight Champion decide to leave his emotions at the door of the Thomas & Mack Center this Saturday night? Team Chavez certainly hopes that he doesn’t.

On July 14th, 2012, we witnessed a similar dramatic situation unfold in the ring.