Photo Credit: Esther Lin
EL PASO, Texas — The sideshow that is the career of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. continued this weekend with Junior posting an unimpressive win over fringe contender Marcos Reyes. Chavez, who again failed to make the contracted super middleweight limit, took what looked to be a 15-20 pound weight advantage into the ring and still struggled with stamina and Reyes’ combination punching.
BRUTE STRENGTH OVER STAMINA AND SKILL: One thing Chavez had going for him in this fight was sheer strength. Because of the weight disparity, Chavez was able to bully Reyes to the ropes and notch points off clubbing shots. Despite the fact Chavez was outlanded, Reyes’ shots didn’t have the power and snap to catch the judges’ eyes (Scores were 98-91, 97-92, 96-93). Since Reyes’ is a natural middleweight (and not an elite one at that), the question remains as to why Chavez couldn’t stop him nor maintain a consistent punch output in any of the 10 rounds. Chavez had this to say:
I won. This is big for me and Robert. I can do it better, but I won and that is the important thing. I’m going to fight at 168 pounds. Little by little, I’m going to get down in weight. We know we’re doing much better work in the gym.
In the third round I hurt my left hand. I think it’s broken, I don’t know. I’ll see the doctor. With all respect to Reyes, if I hadn’t hurt my hand I would have knocked him out.
CREATIVE MATCHMAKING: Fonfara made it clear three months ago that Chavez can’t compete at his natural weight of light-heavyweight. And missing weight shows that the super-middleweight limit will be a struggle as well. Chavez is literally a man without a division, and his faded star power means that elite fighters from 168-175 will scoff at the idea of entertaining Junior-dictated catchweights. I would not be surprised me to see Chavez continue fighting fringe middleweights for the next 6-12 months while Al Haymon waits to see if any of his super middleweights (Dirrell, Degale, Jack etc.) can gain some significant momentum.
AMIR IMAM KOs ANGULO: Prospect Amir Imam kicked off the show with a one-punch, second round KO of Fernando Angulo. The straight right hand caught Angulo behind the ear and planted him face-first on canvas. Then the real fun began; Imam used his post-fight interview to call out “fake” and “cherry-picking” champions at 140, specifically naming Danny Garcia and Adrien Broner. The kid will soon get the chance to back up his bravado as he’s in line to face the winner of the WBC title match between Lucas Matthysse and Viktor Postol.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 