Article written by: Oscar Quinones
(Photo: Soobum Im, USA TODAY Sports)
Last night, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1) defeated Bryan Vera for the second time, this time by a unanimous decision. The only difference about this fight and the their first fight is that this time there were no doubts over Chavez’ victory. The first fight had taken place last September in Carson, California. The fight was only scheduled for a ten round match. Chavez had trouble making weight the first time, having to pay a fine and was very slow and out of shape. He was sluggish and just seemed tired in the early rounds, unlike Vera who was dominating the whole fight, landing large amounts of jabs and combinations. Although Chavez was landing huge blows, many boxing fans did not think that was enough to win the fight and ultimately he was given a controversial split decision victory over Vera.
This time around, Chavez Jr. was very different though. We saw a new version of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and many are hoping that he stays this way. The young Mexican fighter had no trouble making weight and seemed as if he was well prepared for the match. Julio Cesar started throwing more punches than he had in his first fight with Vera. There were some moments throughout the fight where Chavez Jr. seemed to want to slow down his pace while Bryan Vera used all those moments to try to land as many punches on Chavez Jr. as possible.
In contrast to their first match, this match was a complete brawl and we saw that Chavez Jr. has a huge potential to be a great slugger. The majority of the huge blows that were landed came from the Mexican fighter, and at times he was able to buckle Bryan Vera. The only flaw that he falls in to at time is that Chavez Jr. tries to call upon the boxing style of his father, the great Julio Cesar Chavez, which is not a bad thing but Chavez Jr. has a different body that allows him to be a better fighter at a distance rather than a face to face fighter.
After the fight, Chavez Jr. was asked about who he would like to fight in the near future and the names that were dropped were Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and Gennady Golovkin. HBO’s Max Kellerman was the one who interviewed him about Martinez , Chavez responded “He is now afraid of me,” through an interpreter. When asked about Gennady Golovkin, Chavez Jr. did not hesitate to answer in English saying, “I like that fight because Golovkin is a great fighter, a strong fighter and undefeated, one of the best in the middleweight division. I want to fight him next.” When Vera was asked about the fight. he stated that he had recently found out that the fight was going to be a 12 round fight, while he trained for a ten round fight.
Although many people want the Chavez Jr. vs Golovkin fight, a rematch against Sergio Martinez will also be a great fight and to prove who is the best between them. All that can be said right now is that after yesterday’s performance, Chavez Jr. is slowly but surely beginning to earn his father’s name.