Well, karma and poor decisionmaking caught up to Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., finally, on Saturday night on Showtime. Beaten up by a larger man in Andrzej Fonfara for eight rounds, a man he wouldn’t have been fighting if he didn’t allow himself to blow up in weight between bouts, he was dropped in the 9th for the first time in his career, then quit between rounds.
Ideally, this spoiled brat would’ve thought to himself, “Maybe I need to change some things.” Instead, he said in a post-fight interview that he thought he was winning the fight, and wanted a rematch at 170 lbs. — after getting a full-blown light heavyweight to come down in weight to face him at 172 lbs. in the first place.
Fonfara just beat him up; he was clearly unaffected by Chavez’s punches, and responded to anything Chavez landed twofold. He was the better boxer, and bigger boy. He came out hot early, landing single right hands, then mixing in combinations to the head and body. His uppercut was particularly effective against Chavez, who used his giant noggin to maneuver in, not doing anything with his fists for that purpose.
Chavez has a few things going for him. Once he gets inside, he can land some good shots, if too few of them. He has a great chin. And his fan base is such that he can pull out close decisions — how many debatable ones has he pulled out? — just on their cheers. When the headline is about Chavez being a “lazy child*,” it’s only within boxing; most boxers, even Chavez, work harder than almost all of us, at least physically.
But man, is this kid a baby. He complained three times in the opening round to the ref. He kept complaining throughout. He might’ve lobbied his way into a 7th round point deduction for Fonfara, who did, upon replay, land a solid shoulder to the face, although Fonfara was never warned for that sin. Chavez quit between rounds — something about his leg? — and then tried to spin it afterward like he thought he was winning, which, OK, maybe he was concussed from the left hook that put him down.
Chavez really needs to look closely at who he is. He’s a fighter of some ability, limited, perhaps, but some. He could make a mark for himself if he ever devoted himself fully, maybe, maybe, but at a lower weight by at least one division, maybe a couple; he’s not that far removed, after all, from dropping then-middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in a fight where, if he had fought like he did in that final round all fight long, he might’ve — might’ve — won.
Instead, the story of the night ought to be Fonfara, who asked afterward for a rematch with division champ Adonis Stevenson. Given that their first fight was pretty good and competitive, given that a Stevenson-Sergey Kovalev fight ain’t happening anytime soon, it’s better than some other options. It should be said that Fonfara’s win is outshined by Chavez’s loss, but he fought well, he fought smart, he fought hard. He’s a commendable fighter. Maybe that makes him the best person to have stopped Chavez, in a stroke of poetic justice.
(Photo: Fonfara punches Chavez, via @shosports)
