By Ian S Palmer
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Brian Vera will meet in their long awaited rematch on Saturday March 1 when they tangle at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The 12-round super middleweight bout will be shown across Canada and America on the HBO network. Chavez won their first meeting by a controversial unanimous 10-round decision last September.
The 28-year-old Chavez Jr. of Mexico and the son of ring legend Julio Cesar Chavez, is a former world middleweight champion and will climb through the ring ropes with a record of 47-1-1 along with 32 Kos to his name. His only loss came by unanimous decision to WBC Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina in September of 2012 in Las Vegas. Chavez stands 6-foot-1 inches tall and has a 73-inch reach.
Chavez is big and powerful and has quite a bit of boxing talent in his genes. He’s got a solid chin and pretty good power, though he’s not a one-punch knockout artist. Most of the problems Chavez endures are largely outside of the ring as he has a few personal issues to deal with. He’s not the most motivated of boxers and has been caught indulging in the occasional drink or banned substance.
Vera is a good boxer, but he’s really not in Chavez’s class no matter how well he performed in their first encounter. This can be seen in his record of 23-7 along with 14 Kos. He’s 32-year-old now and stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and also has a 73-inch reach. The American probably had the best night of his career in the first meeting with Chavez, but still didn’t manage to pull out a win.
He’s also got decent power and always puts in a workmanlike effort to make up for any deficiencies in his boxing skills. He’s a good boxer, but Chavez is a world-class boxer and this is the problem Vera must overcome. He’s fought some good talent and has won and lost one against Ireland’s Andy Lee and has a pair of wins over Sergio Mora twice.
Chavez took Vera too lightly the first time around and wasn’t in shape. But luckily for him he didn’t pay for it with a loss on his record, at least not in the eyes of the official judges. Thousands of fans believed Vera won the fight though. Holding this bout in San Antonio isn’t going to help Vera even though he was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and it’s unlikely he’ll get a decision here. Basically he’d have to stop Chavez or drop him several times during the bout.
It’s unlikely that Chavez will make the same mistake of not training seriously for Vera two times in a row. He should be better prepared for this bout and that’s not good news for Vera. Look for Chavez to land some hurting blows during the fight while Versa puts in a valiant effort. However, sooner or later Chavez will wear him down and take the fight by a unanimous decision or a late stoppage.
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