While middleweight king Gennady Golovkin wants to clean up the 160-pound division and hold all the major belts there before making a move up in weight, this doesn’t stop 168-pound fighters from calling him out. One big name at super-middleweight who says he wants a fight with the undefeated, 36-0(33) puncher, is Mexican star (or former star) Julio Cesar Chavez Junior.
Chavez Jr has been pretty much out of circulation for the past few months – last fighting in July of last year, and having problems getting in tip-top shape, and picking up a hand injury – but he told ESPN Deportes how he thinks “I’m the only one who could withstand the punches of Golovkin,” and how, given the fact that the much smaller Kell Brook, “hurt him,” Chavez Jr says that up at 168, he could, “even knock him out.”
But beat Golovkin, knock him out? No way. However, if – and many will see it as a very big if – Chavez Jr can get back to winning ways and get some serious momentum going, who knows, he could, maybe, get a shot at GGG one day (especially if the GGG-Canelo fight is not made next year).
Chavez, 49-2-1(32) is at least calling Golovkin out, saying he wants the fight. Then again, other fighters have done this, with no real intention of getting in the ring with the punching machine.
Regarding who GGG may or may not fight next, ESPN.com reports how negotiations between GGG and Danny Jacobs have become “messy,” with Jacobs reportedly wanting an interim fight before tangling with Golovkin. Has there ever been a more avoided middleweight champion in history than Golovkin?
Chavez Jr says he wants to get back to fighting three times a year and that he is now “100 percent.” Of course, we’ve heard this kind of talk from Julio before, only for him to blow it. Time is ticking on the former WBCmiddleweight champ’s career, with Chavez Jr now being aged 30 – is it too late for the son of a legend to become one himself?
Chavez Jr has shown a durable chin throughout his career, being stopped just once, up at light-heavyweight (a weight at which Chavez should never have been fighting) against Andrzej Fonfara last April. Even then, Chavez was not knocked out, opting to quit on his stool citing injury. It is possible then, that in a 168-pound match-up, where GGG may or may not fully carry his power, Chavez Jr would at least be competitive.