By: Nick Bellafatto
The setting was the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, and after a plethora of shots administered by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.(46-0-1, 32 KO’s) in round seven last night upon a hapless and worn Andy Lee (28-2, 20 KO’s) who sought refuge along the ropes, referee Laurence Cole would intervene to save the Irish prizefighter from further punishment. The stoppage came at 2:21 of the seventh with Lee ahead 58-56 on all three judges scorecards during the HBO televised event.
With the TKO victory Chavez Jr. remains undefeated while surpassing yet another milestone en-route to maintaining a middleweight title which was gifted to him via the WBC at the expense of the true and universally recognized middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
J.C. Jr., who has improved markedly in each successive appearance to expand his game by becoming more of a boxer, would ironically in this fight revert back to his original style. Wading in tight to fight like his shorter iconic father, the battle lines were drawn early as the “Son of a Legend” would look to bide his time and get inside on the lengthier Andy Lee who was looking to maintain distance by landing his jab along with an extended left hand.
And that’s just what the challenger did as he jabbed, circled, and connected with an occasional left hand to edge the less than busy champion in the first two rounds. However, the problem was that when Lee did land what up until then had been his weapon of choice, the straight left hand, not only did it fail to inflict damage, but Lee’ power was less than deterrent. By round three, Chavez Jr. knew that this fight was his for the taking. “I wanted to see if he had any power. When I saw he couldn’t hurt me, that is when I came on,” commented Chavez Jr. in victory.
Walking through what his adversary had to offer up, the champion would move in close to dig shots to the body, opening up Lee for an assortment of blows which would begin to take the steam out of the Kronk gym representative. To this end the bout began to take on the appearance of a one sided fight. Winning back to back rounds in the third and fourth stanza, Chavez Jr. looked to be in the driver’s seat, although Lee would gamely have his moments for the remainder, albeit ineffective moments.“My punches had no effect on him,” Lee would admit post fight. “He just walked through my shots. He’s a big middleweight. It was hard to move him with my shots.”
Practically a forgone conclusion, it was just a matter of time before the champion would impose his will, landing the trademark Chavez left hook to the body which would freeze the challenger, as well as put Lee on the defensive. Stated Chavez after his most impressive win to date, “from the first round my legs were bothering me. I could’ve knocked him out any time I liked, but I couldn’t early because my legs were cramping.”
As round seven rolled around, the accumulation of body work had visibly taken its toll so that Irish Andy would be reduced to a stationary target. And after a volley of shots punctuated by a right hook put Lee just about out on his feet, with no complaints from the challenger the bout would be halted then and there.
Suffering only the second loss of his career on the heels of a four year winning streak, it was a game effort by Lee, but not nearly enough to topple the defending champion. After defeating and bulling around a most formidable opponent in Marco Antonio Rubio just one fight previous, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in upping the ante not only emerges victorious, but he wins impressively.
And with his protectors in the form of Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum along with WBC head Jose Sulaiman claiming it’s now time to for the box office attraction J.C. Jr. to face the man to whom the title truly belongs, that being Sergio Martinez, Martinez who reckons the Chavez camp is not interested in fighting him may turn out to be a soothsayer.
With a bout between Chavez Jr. and Martinez scheduled to take place September 15th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, word has it by way of trainer Freddy Roach that this may have been Chavez Jr.’ last fight at 160 pounds. If that be the case and Jr. will move up to 168, he may perhaps avoid Martinez once again while he continues to be marketed along the lines of what suits Arum and the WBC.
No doubt a force to be reckoned with, Chavez Jr. feels that he is more than ready to step up to the challenge of facing Martinez. However, it may not be up to Jr. but rather to his aforementioned handlers who may yet again maneuver around Martinez who is considered a notch or two above the Mexican fighter. In essence, a move up to super middleweight may hinder a bout with Martinez while providing further opportunities for less than meaningful bouts as J.C. Jr. settles in to his new weight class where he will continue to line the pockets of those who are interested in seeing him win at all costs.
But tired of the talk and ready to step into the ring to face one of boxing’s best in pound-for-pound fighter in “Maravilla” Martinez, perhaps the young pugilist will attempt to force the hand that feeds him. “With my legs right, I’m going to knock him [Martinez] out and shut his mouth,” commented Chavez Jr. Only time will tell if a bout that is well past due will come ever come off.
