By James Slater – Now that he’s fully recovered from the bout of flu that KO’d his end of the year fight with Alfonso Gomez (and then replacement foe Pawel Wolak), Julio Cesar Chavez Junior is anxious to get back into the ring. And, according to Fightnews and Boxrec, the unbeaten middleweight will fight tough Youngstown, Ohio warrior Billy Lyell on January 29th.
The word is the undefeated 24-year-old with the impressive 41-0-1(30) pro record will face the 26-year-old in Culiacan, Mexico at the end of the month.. And, also according to Fightnews, Chavez, if victorious, may face interim WBC middleweight champ Sebastian Zbik on March 26th. But first The Son of a Legend must get past the upset-minded Lyell, the 22-8(4) tough guy who shocked Ireland’s John Duddy for his biggest career win back in April of 2010.
Chavez has not fought since his own, June 2006, win over Duddy, and the Freddie Roach-trained contender may have some rust with him on Jan. 29th. On paper, the Mexican star should be able to beat Lyell – who has won three and lost one, to IBF 160-pound champ Sebastian Sylvester, since his points win over Duddy. But Lyell has shown in the past that he can tear up the script.
Chavez may have something of a tough time getting up for the Lyell fight, seeing as how he was so close to getting big fights against the likes of Miguel Cotto and Gomez recently. But Chavez will look past Lyell at his peril.
In all likelihood, the January fight will be an exciting affair. Lyell loves to come forward and engage, while Chavez is a high-output body puncher who is seldom in a dull fight himself. With a shot at the (interim) WBC middleweight title in the offing, Chavez will know he cannot afford to look bad, much less lose. And Lyell, who realises these big chances will not come forever, will be certain to give his all.
The fans who attend the fight in Mexico will probably go home happy, with their hero scoring an exciting points win. But can Chavez Junior then go on to bring back a “world” title to Mexico? There had been talk of interim WBC champ Zbik facing world champ Sergio Gabriel Martinez in March, but the March 12th date now looks like belonging to WBO 154-pound titlist Sergey Dzinziruk.
Chavez Junior may be as close as he’s ever been to winning at least a portion of the middleweight crown.