Rafael says Chavez Jr. was drug tested for Lee fight

boxingBy Michael Collins: ESPN writer Dan Rafael is reporting that WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was indeed drug tested before his 7th round TKO win over Andy Lee last Saturday night in El Paso, Texas. Rafael says that HBO analyst Jim Lampley wasn’t aware that Chavez Jr. was tested before his fight with Lee.

Lampley said that Chavez Jr. hadn’t been tested, which was true at the time, but Chavez Jr. was eventually tested before the fight. Rafael states that Chavez Jr’s drug test was the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation as well as Top Rank president Carl Moretti. As such, that pretty much clears up the talk of Chavez Jr. not having been tested before win over Lee.

There’s still no word about how much Chavez Jr. weighed for the bout since no weight was given by HBO. Roy Jones Jr., one of HBO’s analysts, estimated that Chavez Jr’s weight was in the neighborhood of 180 pounds for the fight.. Chavez Jr. certainly looked bigger than the slender Lee. However, it’s perfectly legal for a fighter to balloon up as much weight as they want after making weight. Chavez Jr. made the 160 pound weight limit without any problems last Friday. With there being no rehydration limits for the fight, Chavez Jr. was free to gain back as much he wanted without being penalized for excessive weight.

Some boxing fans are concerned with Chavez Jr because of his habit of putting on 20 pounds when rehydrating. Chavez Jr. is able to do this without being weakened like some fighters are. With Chavez Jr. having previously tested positive for a diuretic Furosemide in his fight against Troy Rowland in 2009, some boxing fans think Chavez Jr. has been using diuretic ever since then. Diuretics are sometimes used by fighters to cut water weight to make weight, as they cause a person to urinate frequently to lose water weight. However, Chavez Jr. has always tested clean since the Rowland fight so the speculation by boxing fans are nothing more than guesswork.

Chavez Jr. could simply be someone that is good at taking off water weight naturally to make weight, and that’s probably due to his good genetics. A lot of fighters would be weakened badly by losing 20 pounds and then putting it back on before a fight, but Chavez Jr. isn’t one of them. He’s blessed in that area, and as long as he can do that, he’ll be able to continue to make the 160 pound middleweight weight limit despite being a 180 fighter in the ring. You can’t blame Chavez Jr. for doing that, because it definitely is helping him win fights. If you can come in 20 pounds more than your opponent, it helps.