By Ian S Palmer
Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be trying to get his career back on track this Saturday September 28 when he takes on Brian Vera in a 12-round super middleweight bout in Carson, California. Many fans may instantly see this HBO-broadcasted bout as a mismatch, but we should all know by now that anything can happen in the world of sports, especially in boxing.
Chavez suffered his one and only pro defeat in his last outing when he lost a wide unanimous decision to WBC champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina. Martinez controlled the first 11 rounds and easily built up a huge point lead, but Chavez suddenly caught up to him and dropped him in the 12th and final round. The bout ended with Chavez hunting him down and Martinez just trying to survive. That bout took place last September and this is Chavez’s first battle in a year.
He’ll climb through the ring ropes with a 46-1-1 record along with 32 Kos to his name. He’s been involved in controversial instances outside of the ring and as usual there are rumours circling around that he’s having problem with his weight and may not be able to make the 168 lb limit for this matchup. Even his veteran opponent Vera expressed his doubts about Chavez making the weight limit. Vera said he saw the 27-year-old Chavez a couple of weeks ago and he looked pretty heavy.
The 31-year-old Vera is more or less regarded as a journeyman and will need to come up with the fight of his life to beat Chavez. Vera said he’s going to have to rely on his speed and try to step around Chavez and is counting on trainer Ronnie Shields to come up with a suitable game plan. Vera will answer the opening bell with a record of Vera 23-6 to his name along with 14 Kos. He’s won four fights in a row so should be confident, especially after stopping former junior middleweight titleholder Sergey Dzinziruk in January.
Vera has quite a bit of experience, but his 29 pro bouts pale in comparison to Chavez’s 48 tilts. Vera likes to stay busy and often overwhelms his opponents with his high work ethic and punch output. He’s quite aggressive and throws his punches with bad intentions. The problem for Vera is that Chavez basically fights the same way and is bigger and stronger than him and is also more powerful. Chavez like to go to the body and is generally pretty accurate with his shots. He’s not too shabby defensively either.
This fight could be more entertaining in the ring than it looks on paper. Both guys like to throw a lot of punches and they’re both pretty durable with good chins. It should be entertaining while it lasts. Vera has no choice but to throw as many punches as possible and try to keep Chavez off balance. He’s going to have to outwork the Mexican and that’s very hard to do. Sooner or later this contest will see both boxers going toe-to-toe and once that happens Chavez will catch up to Vera and stop him.
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