Julio Cesar Chavez Wins But Not In His Dad’s Eyes; Also, Chavez Sr. Talks About His Last Fight In Mexico And The US

30.01.04 – By Carlos Kalinchuk: In the co-main event of the evening, Lightweight Julio “El Hijo De Culiacan” Chavez Jr. 4-0 won a four round Unanimous Decision over Juarez Mexico’s Jose Luis Burgos 0-3. All three judges had Chavez Jr. pitching a shut out with scores of 40-36.

What happened…Although Chavez Sr. was sitting nearly 40 feet away, he was clearly not happy with his sons’ performance. During the rounds and especially between them he could be heard shouting out instructions to Julio and his trainers. At one point Chavez Jr. looked over in what looked to be a combination of frustration and desperation. After the fight both exchanged hugs on his way back to the dressing room but when Chavez Sr. was asked about Julio he said, “He has made absolutely no improvements. He didn’t do what he practiced and I have to look at him and be honest with him and myself and I’m not happy with the way he fought.”

I caught up with him later in the dressing room; at which point he seemed to be more at ease and relaxed about what happened. “My son is fighting at the wrong weight. When he fought in Tijauna Mexico he fought at 140 and tonight he’s fighting at 132. He’s getting weak as the fights go on and he’s showing up drained and without energy. I know I have to be patient (with him) but what I don’t understand is such a drastic reduction in strength. I know he’s a lot better than what he’s shown and what he is…he even goes into the ring looking deflated. Did you see his stomach all caved in? If his weight goes up he’ll be much better.”

When asked about his future own future he said, “I want to have a fight in Mexico and that will happen on the 27th of March at the Plaza De Toros Mexico against Frankie Randall and then “If” I win, I will come back here to Houston to fight Hector Camacho. And if I lose…I will still come back here to fight Hector “Macho” Camacho (Big Laughs).”

When I spoke with Chavez Jr. he said, “I don’t know but I just couldn’t knock him out. I can’t explain it. I hurt him but I just couldn’t finish him. The people of Houston are great though and I’ll do a better job the next time. I did better than I did last time but I still didn’t do what I should have done.”

Mauro Lucero Ends Baltazar’s Night Quickly With Body Shot-Wins By KO!

In The Main event, Welterweight Mauro Lucero 36-10-1 (23 KO’s) shocked everyone after a wicked crunching body shot to Jose Luis Baltazar’s 31-20-2 (24 KO’s) mid-section sent him down for good towards the waning seconds of round 1. The Official stoppage occurred at 2:59 seconds.

Many expected this fight to feature a lot of action and fireworks throughout but the fireworks were short-lived when Baltazar laid on the ropes in a defensive posture. It took one solid hook and that was that. He did not beat the 10-count and a stool had to be brought in for him to sit down and visit the medical staff.

In Other action…Trini “La Trinidad” Guzman Get’s First Win; Dominquez and DeLeon Win By TKO!

In Women’s action, Jr. Middleweight Trini “La Trinidad” Guzman won her first fight by Majority Decision over Morgan “Powerline” McCarley 2-1 (2 KO’s) with official scores of 38-38, and 39-37 twice. Both women looked Amateurish as they both threw punches with their chins elevated (especially McCarley). McCarley won the first round with her jab, but from rounds 2-4, she seemed to abandon what got her the lead in round one. Ironically it was Guzman’s jab that won the fight. Her record improves to 1-1 while McCarley goes to 2-2 (2 KO’s).

In almost a carbon copy of the first fight of the evening, Lightweight Ricardo Dominguez 5-0-1 (2 KO’s) TKO’d Martin Quintana 6-4 (2 KO’s) after his corner waived off the bout between rounds 2-3. The official stoppage was ruled a KO victory in 10 seconds of round 3. Although the fight was brief, it had a lot of bombs and explosions as both warriors were willing to do battle. Domiguez’s fire power just seemed to be too much as a sharp left hook appeared to break Quintana’s nose in the opening seconds of round 1. From that moment on, it was a war. Dominguez’s artillery was just too much in the end.

In Opening bout of the evening, Jr. Welterweight Lee Deleon got his first win when his body shots were just too much for the shorter and more out of shape Gerardo Pena-Flor. The corner waived off the bout when the repeated shots to the body were just too much for Pena-Flor. No one questioned the corners decision, least of all Pena-Flor. The official stoppage was by KO in 10 seconds of round 3.

Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk
Contributing Writer & Photographer