Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will have the opportunity to explain his second positive drug test to the Nevada State Athletic Commission as he faces the possibility of another fine and suspension.
Chavez Jr., who dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to Sergio Martinez last Saturday despite scoring a 12th round knockdown, tested positive for marijuana following the bout and was the only fighter out of 32 participants to deliver a positive drug test.
Chavez Jr. was previously suspended for seven months and fined $10,000 in 2009 for testing positive for Furosemide, a banned substance that assists in weight loss. Chavez Jr.’s win over Troy Rowland was overturned to a No Contest.
At press time, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is hoping to stage a Chavez Jr.-Martinez rematch in Texas at Dallas Stadium. Martinez, citing Texas’ controversial judging history and previously misplacement of Chavez Jr. drug results, has publicly declined the venue proposal.
WBC and linear middleweight champion Sergio Martinez will undergo right knee surgery next week and tentatively expects to make an in-ring return in May 2013.
In a statement to boxingscene.com, Martinez advisor Sampson Lewkowicz stated his fighter’s comments about his willingness to face the likes of Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez won’t be fully explored until a finalized recovery timeframe is made.
“Martinez will likely return in May,” said Lewkowicz. “We have to see what the doctor says, but I believe he will be back in May. At the moment, we don’t want to discuss any opponents, but once we confirm how long Martinez will be out, then we will explore the possibilities.”
In addition to right knee ligament tears, Martinez suffered several injuries in his unanimous decision win last Saturday over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, including a broken left hand, eight stitches to close a left eye cut and two staples to close a head gash.
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This isn’t too surprising. In my post-fight analysis, I speculated a Martinez return at around 8-9 months. The question is whether he’ll be ready to jump right back in with elite competition. With Cinco de Mayo in May, that would at least put Martinez in consideration for a Canelo bout. However, Cotto likely has first dibs there, and the Puerto Rican star has never really fancied Martinez as an opponent going back to 2010. And there’s always the Chavez rematch, which isn’t warranted based on the outcome, but makes sense financially for both sides.
Nonetheless, take everything just stated with a grain of salt as the 154-160 pound could change drastically by next May.
What a fight. Even as I make my way back to Atlanta this early Sunday morning, I’m still on a high from last night’s electric atmosphere and clash beetwen middleweights Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Although the fight was one-sided in rounds and scoring, a Round of the Year contender in the 12th and rabid Mexican and Argentinian fans had the Thomas & Mack Center on fire even hours before the main event started. Let’s get started on all the news and notes coming out of Sin City.
Photo Credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank
MARAVILLA’S VICTORY TAKES A HUGE PHYSICAL TOLL
Sergio Martinez put on an amazing performance last night. First, he flawlessly outboxed a younger fighter that came into the ring close to the cruiserweight limit. Many times Sergio had his opponent backing up from his own power. When Junior unleashed those hooks that caused Martinez’s head to do a 180 in the 12th, I was thinking Martinez was done by how slowly he rose and electing to slug toe to toe. Instead, he traded with Junior in spots and amazingly succeeded in halting Chavez’s attacks. Martinez held at times but not as much as he should have considering how badly he was hurt. That fact the knockdown happened early and Martinez was able to survive says a lot about his heart and conditioning.
The full extent of Martinez’s heart and bravery were learned earlier this morning, with reports coming from ESPN via Martinez’s camp that the fighter suffered torn ligaments in his right knee and a broken left hand. In addition, he required stitches to close that flowing cut above his left eye and several staples were done to close a gash on his head. Those of you who saw the fight will recall Martinez fell hard and got up slowly in the late rounds and could be seen shaking his left hand. You have to wonder if those injuries provided the perfect storm for Chavez to nearly steal the fight in the 12th.
Photo Credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank
CHAVEZ KEEPS HIS MEXICO STAR STATUS IN DEFEAT
After an 11th round where Martinez took his best shots and had him backing up to close, Chavez Jr. looked headed to a complete shutout defeat. I noted a good number of the Mexican faithful exiting that area (shame on them). That 12th round redeemed him in the eyes of every Mexican fan in attendance. They celebrated as if Junior had won; the arena was literally rumbling at the bell. Junior himself relished the “moral victory” and wore a huge smile on his face when he ascended the ropes to cheers.
As unfair as it may be, timing and the old adage of “it’s not how you start but how you finish” applies here in spades. Had Chavez’s rally happened in any other round, no one would even be considering a rematch. But because it closed the fight, Chavez and his fans can claim with more time Martinez could have been taken out (ignoring the fact Martinez was back to boxing and recovered by the round’s end).
IS IT SAFE FOR CHAVEZ TO STAY AT 160?
Let’s be frank; Chavez Jr. LOOKED SICK at Friday’s weigh-in. According to a source from the Chavez camp, Junior was six pounds over the middleweight limit on Wednesay, dropped eight pounds to weigh in at 158 on Friday only to be over 180 pounds 24 hours later last night. How many times can he continue to put his body through this? We know Top Rank doesn’t want Chavez competing against the beasts at super-middleweight, but keeping him at 160 is dangerous. The man could barely stand at Friday’s weigh-in and was damn near skeletal around the waist.
Photo Credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank
IF NO REMATCH, WHAT’S NEXT?
Bob Arum is already beating the drums about a rematch at Dallas Stadium. But knee injuries are bad, so it’s not out of the question that we don’t see Martinez in the ring again until around this time next year. And if that’s the case, he’ll want a tune-up to test that right knee and his movement before rematching Junior. What would Julio do in the meantime? Kelly Pavlik told me in July he’d love to face the Martinez-JCC Jr. winner, so with Sergio out this would be fan-friendly, brutal alternative battle. Neither guy likes to chase and wouldn’t have to. As another plus, both guys are Top Rank so it’s an easy make. If not, Junior could look to face another slugger in Gennady Golovkin, who made a splash in his HBO debut earlier this month.
Let’s also not forget Martinez’s words to Junior during their Face Off that he’d be nipping at Mayweather’s heels with a victory. The 37 year old may be looking to cash out, should Floyd fancy it, with a Mayweather fight in 2013 to close his career.
Undercard Notes: As much as I like and appreciate Guillermo Rigondeaux’s skill, his unanimous decision win over Roberto Marroquin gave guys like Nonito Donaire and Abner Mares another reason to avoid him. He’s such an adept counter-puncher that many times he doesn’t have to come out of first gear and he’s completely fine with just outboxing a guy and making it a sparring session. Rigondeaux did just that last night when he should have been focused in making an in-ring statement to rivals like Donaire.
Matthew Macklin must have wanted to see Martinez-Junior as badly as the rest of us because he wasted no time in bombing out Joachim Alcine with two knockdowns in the opening round. Many, myself included, expected this to be a solid fight. This was an excellent comeback for Macklin, who was last seen being stopped in 11 rounds in March by Sergio Martinez.
Roman Martinez and Miguel Beltran put on a good scrap with a highly-competitive split decision that went Martinez’s way. Beltran was the harder puncher throughout and almost had Martinez out of there in the fourth behind his powerful hooks. Although clearly at a power disadvantage, Martinez always kept his hands moving and that paid dividends in the close rounds as the judges just barely sided with his activity. And that point deduction in the 9th Beltran received for rabbit punching was huge considering that was also a round Beltran had won.
That’s all from Vegas. Overall, how do you rate last night’s Martinez-Chavez Jr. PPV?
Prediction: Chavez Jr. did not look good on the scales. The young titlist was very gaunt, skinny and weak. Immediately after weighing in he sprinted to get some fluids in him. Even worse for Chavez Jr. fans, a source confirmed to me that on Wednesday Chavez Jr. was six pounds overweight. On the other hand, Martinez looked in great shape and was absolutely pumped. He easily smiled off and goaded Mexican fans chanting “puto” at him, and appeared to relish the idea of the promised beating he planned to inflict on Chavez Jr. tomorrow night. I saw this fight as a late KO for Martinez, but after the weigh-in I predict Martinez makes it a point to outclass Chavez Jr. in route to a 6th round KO.
WBA super bantamweight titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux has reached a “resolution” with promoter Top Rank and manager Gary Hyde that has reversed an August 21 court ruling that blocked him from a scheduled September 15 title defense.
The Miami Circuit Court previously ruled that Rigondeaux could not defend his title without the approval of Hyde, who’s managed Rigondeaux since 2007. Last night, all parties reached an agreement that will allow Rigondeaux to face Robert Marroquin as planned on the Martinez-Chavez Jr. undercard.
“Thanks to my attorneys, Patrick English and Bill Brown, we have negotiated a far superior deal to fight Robert Marroquin on September 15th,” said Hyde. “‘Rigo doesn’t get involved or side tracked by legal dramas. He has promised me that he is at his all-time best and that he will KO Marroquin.”
The fight will be Rigondeaux’s second title defense since winning the strap via a sixth round TKO over Rico Ramos in January.
Sergio Martinez is without question the favorite to win next Saturday when he faces Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for the middleweight championship. Chavez Jr. is not without his supporters. Since scoring a TKO victory over middleweight contender Andy Lee, Junior’s chances have improved amongst fans and media. But when pressed, most just cite Junior’s size and strength as the main factors that’ll carry him. Chavez Jr. is no fool and knows those two attributes alone won’t be enough to wrest away the linear title from a man who’s scored knockouts in all four of his title defenses. In Junior’s final blog entry before next week’s clash, the young star lays out in detail the tools he’ll use to emerge victorious.
You’re a renowned body puncher, but Martinez is cagey, quick and able to fight from distance. Do you have a strategy to get close enough to him to use arguably your best weapon? Martinez seems to take your shared rivalry more personally than you do. Are you enjoying it? Is it a distraction?
Boxing is a turf war. It’s about owning the ring, taking the high ground and keeping it, and the better and most prepared fighter will be the one that dictates and controls the action. Martínez has a difficult style but it is up to me to get him — to fight my fight, not his, and to do that will require that I assert my power and utilize my advantages in youth, stamina, height and reach and pressure him every minute of every round. I have developed the right strategy not just to beat him but to beat him badly. All I need to do when we finally meet is to remain patient and disciplined and stick to the plan and I will win the fight.
I respect Sergio as a boxer, but not as a person. He has said a lot of things about me that are just not true. He is an ignorant person and a snob; he is underestimating me both as a person and as a boxer and he will pay for it in the ring. It’s not distraction for me, but it is a motivation to go in the ring and shut him up once and for all. Who knows if his car was really spray painted during training camp? But I promise he’ll be getting a lot of major body work done by me on September 15.
24/7 Chavez Jr./Martinez episode 2 debuts Sat, Sept. 8 at 12:30am ET/PT on HBO.
Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez takes place Sat., Sept. 15 live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.
The first episode of 24/7: Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez rehashes notable wins from both fighters while detailing their current personal influences. We see Martinez speak about dealing with the loss of one of his trainers, and Chavez Jr. dealing with criticism of his boxing abilities and his father’s addictions. Chavez Jr. ended with some heavy trash talk while Martinez promised an early KO. The second episode airs on September 8 at 12:30 a.m.
Last night, HBO debuted an excellent Face Off between middleweight rivals Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez. The latter held the advantage for most of the exchanges; he belittled Chavez Jr. for his preferential treatment from the WBC, lack of tough fights and riding his father’s coattails. Chavez Jr. framed most of his retorts on stating he’ll prove he’s worthy of the WBC strap that was stripped from Martinez. Be sure to take note of Martinez’s comment of focusing on Mayweather should he get past Chavez Jr.
In the buildup to his September 15 bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, we got to see a whole new side of middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. The normally happy-go-lucky fighter has upped his verbal taunts and made bold proclamations that he’ll not only defeat Chavez Jr, but deliver a beating so bad that his young rival may not be able to fight again. It’s clearly personal, but don’t expect Martinez to start initiating press conference brawls. For the middleweight champion, being known for his charity work takes precedence over manufacturing any last-minute fight controversy. In his own Q&A series with media leading up to September 15, Martinez had this to say about his image.
You’re involved with multiple charities and causes, you participated in a TV dance competition back home in Argentina, and you generally represent the sport with class. Do you consider yourself an example that a boxer doesn’t have to take on a thuggish persona to be a world-class fighter?
I believe that as a professional athlete in the public eye, it is my duty to be the voice to the individuals and groups that cannot be heard. This is very close to my heart and that is why I devote my time to many causes to bring awareness to these issues. I would agree with that statement that you do not have to act with a negative demeanor or a thuggish attitude in order to be a world-class fighter. In the end the people that you are trying to impress with that attitude will not be there to help you once your career is over.
What is important is dedicating yourself to your profession and acting like a professional and with hard work and a good clean lifestyle you can possibly be a world class fighter. In my whole life, I have never drank alcohol or smoked tobacco, always ate healthy, and always stayed active. I believe this is physically the recipe to being a world class fighter. But it is also a mental challenge to get to that level. You have to be prepared mentally and if you have some of the nuisances that come a long with a thuggish persona, then it will be very difficult to reach that level of being a world class fighter.
The up and coming fighters that will be on the world stage have to be cognizant that once you are in the public eye and have a public forum, that it is a great opportunity to give a voice and recognition to those that are less fortunate and bring awareness to social issues that normally wouldn’t get the attention. My goal is bring awareness to end bullying in schools and end domestic violence against women. I believe with the platform I have I could help out.
2 Days: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. & Face Off With Max Kellerman: Chavez Jr./Martinez debuts back-to-back Sat., August 25 at 12:30am ET/PT and 12:45am ET/PT, respectively, on HBO.
Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez takes place Sat., Sept. 15 live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.
Despite all the bravado Julio Cesar Chavez Jr showed in the Face Off preview with Sergio Martinez that leaked yesterday, it’s natural that today we find the young title-holder reflecting heavily on his career less than a month before the biggest fight of his life on September 15. Through Martinez, Chavez Jr. will discover if he’s truly a fighter with the capabilities of building his own legacy outside of his father’s shadow. When asked of his career highs and lows thus far, the WBC middleweight titlist had this to say.
My best memory as a fighter is winning the World Middleweight Championship. It was my dream to become a world champion. That’s why I decided to become a professional fighter. Beating Sebastian Zbik in Los Angeles to become the middleweight champion is something that I will never forget and for so many reasons. Not many people believed that I could do it and that inspired me. The select few who did believe in me encouraged me and sacrificed for me. And to win the title only a few blocks from the old Olympic where my father won his first world title, well, that made it even more special for me. My father and I will always be linked together because we won our first world championship belts in the same city.
My worst memory was in July 2008 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. I had a very difficult time in the ring. It was very hot all week and I started getting sick the day before the weigh-in and never fully recuperated after the weigh-in. I had a fever the night before the fight but I went through with the fight and the last two rounds where the most difficult time I had in the ring. I could barely walk and was just standing up because of my pride and my heart. I threw up in the ring after the fight and had a fever.
My most memorable victory was against Zbik and winning the middleweight championship of the world. It was a very difficult fight early but I was able to come back in the second half of the fight and win it. It is a feeling that will stay with me forever. To hear the ring announcer say, ‘The winner and new…’ That is something I will never forget. That is something I never want to forget. Of course I now like hearing the ring announcer say, ‘ The winner, and still…’ and that’s exactly what he will say in the ring on September 15 after my fight Sergio Martinez ends.
Jr. & Face Off With Max Kellerman: Chavez Jr./Martinez debuts back-to-back Sat., August 25 at 12:30am ET/PT and 12:45am ET/PT, respectively, on HBO.
Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez takes place Sat., Sept. 15 live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.
