by James Slater – Last night in Las Vegas, in improving his pro record to 38-0-1(29), 22-year-old “Son of A legend” Julio Cesar Chavez Junior left no doubts as to who the better fighter is, he or Matt Vanda. Back in July, however, this was not the case. Many felt “The Predator” did enough to have deserved the split decision that went to Chavez in Mexico..
But last night, in falling to 39-8(22) courtesy of a 99-91, 98-92, 97-93 unanimous decision loss, the 30-year-old from Minnesota had no argument whatsoever about the scoring of the rematch. Chavez was the boss pretty much throughout, he controlled the pace even though Vanda was the man coming forward most of the time, he landed the cleaner, more eye-catching punches and he looked far more experienced than his 22 years would indicate.
Proving he is a good learner, Chavez’s win was not just down to the fact that he was 100-percent healthy and not suffering from a virus this time around. Looking the best he has looked thus far in his five-year career, Junior put his punches together extremely impressively and he showed some good defensive moves, even dropping his hands and rolling under Vanda’s shots on one occasion. Julio’s right hand to the head was a key weapon for him. Landing it often and with crispness as Vanda advanced, Chavez was very accurate with the shot.
The fight was never dull, and Vanda deserves some credit for pushing onwards all night. But there was only ever going to be one winner. Looking a class or two above the older man at times, the unbeaten junior middleweight who was forced, due to his maturing body, to come into last night’s bout two pounds above the 154 pound limit, just might be the future world champion some experts say he will be.
No, Vanda is no world-beater, but he is a tough pressure fighter who can make it rough for good fighters. Last night, however, he was unable to impose himself on Chavez or make it his type of fight. And yes, the physical condition of the Mexican was undeniably a factor in this, but the improved skills of Julio Junior were also responsible for his dominant win. In no way did Chavez look like the one-dimensional and limited club level type fighter his critics say he is. Instead, the 22-year-old who had virtually no amateur experience, looked like one of the sport’s better lower weight prospects.
What also seems clear, though, is the fact that Chavez now has to make the move up to middleweight. The 156 pounds he weighed for last night’s fight made it obvious his days of getting down to 154 are over. And young Julio will be a welcome addition to the middleweight ranks. He will still have his critics, and it’s true Chavez is not the finished article yet, but last night’s display was his best and most convincing yet when it comes to persuading people he soon will be.
2009 will be a very exciting and interesting one for this particular “Son of A Legend.”