Chavez Jr. receives small fine from WBC for positive drug test

Chavez Jr. receives small fine from WBC for positive drug testBy Rob Smith: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) is getting off without much punishment from the World Boxing Council for having tested positive for marijuana for his last fight against Sergio Martinez on September 15th. Chavez Jr. will receive a $10,000 fine and will be asked to attend a rehabilitation treatment class by the WBC.

As far as suspensions go, the WBC won’t be suspending Chavez Jr. at all despite this being his second drug offense in addition to a DUI incident earlier this year.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman said on the World Boxing Council website “As president of the WBC, I have got in touch with the Board of Governors, and we have decided to fine him $10,000 USD. That money will be donated to an institution for children who suffer from cancer. We also are asking Julio to attend a rehabilitation center and want official confirmation that he’s so doing…The WBC won’t suspend Julio Cesar for an undefined time, because that is not going to help him.”

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Chavez Jr.’s actions leave much to be desired

Chavez Jr.'s actions leave much to be desiredBy Emilio Camacho, Esq. In life, some people have it better than others. For various reasons, not everyone has the same opportunities and access to resources. In this respect boxing is no different.

In boxing, having the right equipment, training facilities, nutrition, sparring partners, and money to cover personal expenses while training, can make a big difference in the performance of an athlete. This is an aspect of a boxer’s performance that is not readily apparent during the match.

On the one hand, Sergio Martinez represents one aspect of this idea. Martinez has stated that, in the year 2000, after paying all expenses, he made about $900 for fighting Antonio Margarito. Martinez was already in his third year as a professional boxer. He has often recounted how difficult it was to live and train with such a low budget while trying to compete at a world-class level. To this extent, it is remarkable that he has been able to reach the highest level of the sport. Today, Martinez is able to afford high-level training camps, nutritionists, quality sparring partners, and even a personal tailor to promote his image. In short, Martinez made it to the highest level under significant adverse conditions that often break the boxing career of many others.

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Musing over Maravilla

Musing over MaravillaBy Ted Spoon: Rating fighters before they’ve retired is a good crack. When boxers add another chapter to their legacy the fanatics usually pipe up, involuntarily summoned to criticize or praise. And with these two extremes accounting for 90% of support it can make you feel obligated to say something that could be interpreted as objective.

Sergio Martinez is, at the time of writing, at that tender junction having just turned back another challenge. With the bout not yet adequately arranged in time we can’t be sure of its worth. The defeated could go onto do nothing of note, consequently reducing its significance, or, conversely, he could go onto achieve great things, polishing the victory with each successive win.

A good way to get our bearings would be to say from the offset that Sergio is certainly not in the same company as a Marvin Hagler or Marcel Cerdan. Of course, that’s hardly a ‘diss’. The Argentinean is closer to a Tony Zale with the opportunity to nudge himself into a higher consensus.

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“Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr: Why, Oh Why?”

By Marc Livitz“Say it ain’t so”, says Mexico."Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr: Why, Oh Why?"

After witnessing one of the most memorable displays of sheer guts and chutzpah in recent boxing memory, someone just had to spill the coffee even though the warning to mind the hot water was in plain view.

Provided the just surfaced reports are correct, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. hopefully has Plaxico Burress on speed dial. Signs are pointing to a failed drug test following this past Saturday night’s grandiose contribution to pugilistic lore.

There are momentary lapses of reason and there is also outright stupefaction at its finest. If the son of the legend from Culiacan did in fact test positive for marijuana, then a bit more is explained in terms of some of his punches sailing wider than a Buffalo Bills missed field goal, as well as his impressive pain threshold.

Those from the nation of sky high aren’t usually the most combative of chaps. Nevertheless since ESPN graciously gives us “Friday Night Fights” each year, then perhaps boxing can have its own rendition of “C’mon, Man!”.

We don’t even have to wait for HBO to replay the fight this coming Saturday evening.

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Chavez Jr. tests positive for Marijuana, rematch with Sergio Martinez may be delayed

Chavez Jr. tests positive for Marijuana, rematch with Sergio Martinez may be delayedBy Michael Collins: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) has allegedly tested positive for Marijuana in his drug test following his 12 round unanimous decision loss to Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) last Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chavez Jr. now faces a possible suspension of up to a 1 year as well as a possible forfeiture of his entire $3 million purse for the Martinez fight, according to RingTV.

If the positive drug test is confirmed for Chavez Jr. then his rematch with Martinez might not happen until well into next year if even then. Chavez Jr. tested positive for a Diuretic in 2009 following his win over Troy Rowland. Chavez Jr. received a 7 month suspension for that fight.

It’s likely that Chavez Jr’ will receive a longer suspension if the positive Marijuana tests are confirmed. Chavez Jr. also arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol earlier this year on January 22nd, one week before his title defense against Marco Antonio Rubio. Chavez Jr. performed well in that fight despite the alcohol related infraction.

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Does Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. really want a rematch with Maravilla?

Does Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. really want a rematch with Maravilla?By Joseph Herron: Be careful what you ask for in boxing, because you just might get it. After the drama filled conclusion of Top Rank’s main event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 15th, many questions remain concerning the heated rivalry between former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and universally recognized 160 pound king Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez.

While the Argentine sharpshooter dominated JCC Jr. for eleven rounds of their twelve round battle, the epic final stanza opened the door for a lucrative rematch in the minds of many devoted fight fans.

Followers of the 26 year old fighter claim that an immediate rematch is a boxing imperative for true Middleweight supremacy. Junior’s supporters allege that Martinez was saved by the final bell of their epic showdown, and a rematch in “Chavez Country” would result in a decisive and resounding KO.

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Will Chavez Jr. be the next fighter to dump Roach?

Will Chavez Jr. be the next fighter to dump Roach?By Robert Jackson: Over this past weekend Amir Khan announced his exit from the Freddie Roach camp and entrance into the Virgil Hunter camp. Under Hunter – as it was under Roach, Khan won’t be the 1st option, Andre Ward WILL be. Mike Dallas Jr is also trained by Hunter, just winning his 2nd fight with Hunter in his corner.

I for one think that this move is a good one for the simple fact that Hunter isn’t loaded down with a large stable of fighters to cater too, like Roach and Emanuel Steward (but that could change with the success of Ward and Dallas). Khan will get a lot of Hunter’s time to develop his technique and tactics in pursuit of championship. If Khan chooses to listen and not talk so much, his improvement WILL be evident right away.

Another Freddie Roach pupil lost big time this past Saturday night but had a chance to pull it out in the last round but didn’t. Severely outfought and out-boxed for 10+ rounds of the fight, it looked like Chavez Jr wasn’t TOTALLY prepared for what he would be facing. All of the pre-fight talk coming out of Chavez Jr’s camp sounded like Chavez Jr would be ready, and when he easily made weight that gave most observers every reason to believe that Chavez Jr was indeed ready.

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Sergio Martinez fought with a broken left hand from the 4th round against Chavez Jr

Sergio Martinez fought with a broken left hand from the 4th round against Chavez JrBy Marcus Richardson: Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) was forced to fight that last eight rounds of his bout with WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) with a broken left hand last Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fighting with mostly just his right hand, Martinez was still able to pound out a relatively easy 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 117-110, 118-109, 118-109.

Martinez’s trainer Pablo Sarmiento said to ESPN “I’d offer credit for not showing that he [Martinez] was compromised [injured] during the tussle. He suffered a broken left hand in round four.”

For boxing fans who don’t know already, Martinez is left-handed and his left is his bread and butter punch that he uses to knockout most of his opponents. With his left hand badly broken, Martinez was unable to get maximum power on his left hand power shots the way he wanted to against Chavez Jr.

With how easy it was for Chavez Jr. to be hit last Saturday it’s scary to imagine what Martinez would have been able to do to him had he had two good hands instead of just his right. This is why Martinez was forced to jab Chavez Jr. so often in the fight because his left hand was out of commission in terms of power punching.

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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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