Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. continues to fight. The 34 year old is set to face unbeaten Mario Abel Cazares on September 25 in Tijuana, Mexico. The fight will take place on the card headlined by Chavez Sr, who will box Jorge Arce in yet another exhibition bout. Initially, it was reported how Chavez Jr. would also box in an exhibition bout, but the fight with the 12-0(6) Cazares will instead be a real fight, to be fought up at light-heavyweight.
It’s not clear what Chavez Jr, 51-4-1(33) has left to offer, if anything, but fans may recall his previous attempts to box up at 175 pounds, when he was forced to quit on his stool in his fight with Andrzej Fonfara in 2015. Since then, Chavez Jr has been badly beaten in a poor fight with Canelo Alvarez, while in his last ring appearance in December of last year, Chavez was heavily criticised for quitting against Danny Jacobs.
Still, Chavez Jr refuses to go away. Who knows what we can expect from the Cazares fight. Cazares, aged 30, called Chavez Jr out and now he has the fight. Looking at Cazares’ record, the Mexican has not fought anyone of note, with plenty of his opponents having losing records. Unless Chavez Jr. has nothing left, he should get the win next month. But what will it prove?
It’s a long time since Chavez Jr. was a relevant fighter. You have to go back to 2012 for Chavez Jr’s last big performance, when he dropped Sergio Martinez in the final round of what turned out to be a dramatic fight, with Martinez winning the decision. Martinez has of course recently returned to the ring himself. Might Martinez and Chavez Jr box a rematch sometime soon? Have any fight fans got any further interest in Chavez Jr?
Chavez Jr. did reign as WBC middleweight champ in 2011 and 2012. But again, that seems a long time ago now. Still, with Chavez Snr fighting, albeit in an exhibition, a good crowd can be expected on September 25.