Julio César Chávez Jr.

Personal life

Chávez Jr. was born in the state of Sinaloa, when his father held the WBC World Championship at super featherweight. His face became known to boxing fans when his father would take him and his brother Omar into the ring as children, before each of Chávez Sr.'s fights. As a teenager, Chávez Jr. endured some difficult moments, including a publicized relationship between his father and actress Salma Hayek and the consequential divorce of his parents. Chávez Jr. lived in relative obscurity until he announced that he would follow in the footsteps of his father and become a boxer.

On part of his career Chávez Jr. has struggled with discipline issues such as training properly, reaching the right weight before his fights and his alleged use of illegal substances. On February, 2014, Chávez and his girlfriend welcomed their first daughter, Julia.

Amateur career

Chávez's amateur career consisted of only two fights against former world champion Jorge Páez's oldest son Jorge Páez Jr.; both of the exhibitions bouts were shown on Mexican television.

Early career

After those amateur fights, Chavez Jr. started his professional boxing career at 17 years old. On September 26, 2003, at Super Featherweight (130 lbs), he won his professional debut by outpointing Jonathan Hernandez over six rounds in Chávez Jr.'s native Culiacán, Sinaloa. Chavez Jr. is signed with Bob Arum's Top Rank. Many of his fights have been held during boxing programs that have been headed by his father; he has also been featured on the undercards of many major pay-per-view fights (rare for an up-and-coming fighter, but not unexpected in his case given his father's fame). He is considerably taller than his father. Chávez Jr. set a fighting pace that was reminiscent of Chávez Sr.'s own pace when the latter was a younger man: in 2004, he fought eleven times, not having a fight only in August during that year.

Chavez won by a split decision over Matt Vanda July 12, 2008. Scores for the fight were 97–93 and 100–90, while losing 96–95 on another card. Chavez struggled with making weight for several bouts and was suspended following his win over Troy Rowland for using a banned diuretic, furosemide, to make the 160-pound weight limit. As a result, the fight was changed to a no contest.

Middleweight

On June 26, 2010, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Chavez Jr. had a win against John Duddy, in what many regard as his first serious fight.

In December 2010, Alfonso Gomez was signed to match up against the undefeated Chávez Jr. at middleweight (the contracted weight was 157) for Chavez Jr's WBC Silver Middleweight belt on the In Harm's Way card as the main event. However, during training for the bout, Alfonso tore some ligaments in his left elbow and had to withdraw from the card and undergo a few months of rehab. For his part, Chavez Jr was set to fight Paweł Wolak as a replacement bout, but after adjusting the weight limit for said match to 165 lbs, Chavez Jr had to pull out due to the flu messing up his training and weight loss and then in January he went on to beat title contender Billy Lyell.

Chávez Jr. vs. Zbik

On June 4, 2011, Chávez defeated WBC Middleweight Champion Sebastian Zbik to win his first world title at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, taking a major step toward establishing his own legacy while his famous father looked on. He was behind early against Zbik, who was the quicker fighter and landed more punches early. But Chavez kept coming forward, countering with hard body shots that seemed to slow his German opponent down.

Chávez Jr. vs. Manfredo Jr.

Chavez Jr. defended his Middleweight title with a fifth-round knockout of Peter Manfredo Jr. in Houston on November 19, 2011.

Chavez was marginally outworked, but he landed a higher percentage of punches and more power shots than Manfredo. In the fifth round, Chavez hurt Manfredo with a hard right hand and unloaded a flurry when the challenger wobbled and backed up on the ropes. Manfredo was never hit flush as Chavez threw with abandon, but he didn't answer with any punches and referee Laurence Cole finally stepped in to call it at 1 minutes, 52 seconds.

Chávez Jr. vs. Rubio

On February 4, 2012, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Chavez faced Mexican countryman Marco Antonio Rubio in a 12-round scheduled championship Middleweight bout. Chavez Jr. retained his WBC Middleweight title after beating Rubio by a unanimous decision. Chavez bossed the majority of the exchanges and was awarded the fight 118-110 116-112 115-113 on the judges' scorecards. Two weeks before the fight, Chavez was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of drunk driving.

Chávez Jr. vs. Lee

On June 16, 2012, at the University of Texas at El Paso, Sunbowl in El Paso, Texas. Chavez Jr. recovered from a slow start he blamed on leg cramps and stopped Andy Lee at 2:21 of the seventh round to retain the WBC Middleweight title. A right uppercut by Chavez snapped Lee's head upwards and sideways and Chavez connected on a barrage of punches before referee Laurence Cole intervened and waved an end to the fight.

With the victory, Chavez put himself in position for a title-unification fight with recognized World Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez.

Chávez Jr. vs. Martínez

Chávez fought against Sergio Martínez on September 15, 2012, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas for the Unified WBC and The Ring Middleweight Championship.

Martínez outworked and out-landed Chávez throughout the first 11 rounds of the fight in dominating fashion. Though Chávez had his moments, trapping Martínez in the corner on the ropes, Martínez fought Chávez and used his fast lateral movement to avoid and neutralize Chávez's offensive attack. After 11 dominant rounds from Martinez, Chávez hurt Martínez in the twelfth round, sending him to the canvas halfway through the round. Martínez got up with a little over one minute left in the fight and continued to throw and trade with the Mexican champion, despite being fatigued and clearly hurt. Martínez managed to survive the 12th round. Martínez won the fight by unanimous decision, by the scores of 117–110, 118–109 and 118-109. It was later revealed that Martinez had fought with a broken left hand since the fourth round. A total of 16,939 tickets were sold to generate a live gate of $3,052,475. HBO reported the fight generated 475,000 pay-per-view buys and close to $25 million in revenue. Chavez Jr. received a purse of $3 million, compared to Martinez's $1.4m.

After the fight, Chavez tested positive for cannabis. On February 28, 2013, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for nine months and fined him $900,000. Chavez had been already fined $20,000 and suspended indefinitely by the World Boxing Council.

Chávez Jr. vs. Vera I

After a year of suspension, Chávez faced Brian Vera on September 28, 2013 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Chávez struggled with the weight before the fight and he hardly reached the 172 pounds for a fight pacted in 168 pounds. The night of the fight he weighed 186 pounds. Like the fight against Martínez, Chávez threw very few power punches while Vera dominated the fight. In the late rounds, the face of Chávez was swollen and he had a cut on his nose, while Vera's face hardly showed any signs of damage. Chávez won a controversial unanimous decision. He threw 320 punches, while Vera threw 734. The decision was heavily criticized by the audience. After the fight, Chávez stated that he fought with an injured hand.

Chávez Jr. vs. Vera II

A rematch was held on March the 1st, 2014, at the Alamodome of San Antonio, Texas. Contrary to what happened in the first fight, Chávez came out more aggressive and proposed the fight. He kept the distance with the jab and landed power punches. In the eleventh round he landed a powerful right hand that nearly knocked Vera out. Chávez won via unanimous decision claiming the vacant WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title.

Chavez Jr. vs. Fonfara

After a long break from boxing, Chavez Jr. decided to face Andrzej Fonfara, a bout in which Chavez was dominated and dropped by a left hook to the forehead in the 9th round. Before the 10th round begun Chavez told his corner "Stop the fight" making it his first TKO in his career. After fight Chavez said "Yes, I think I won the fight". Some words were lost in translation; he meant to say he felt he was winning the fight at early stages of the bout. Chavez was behind in all three judges score cards at the time of the stoppage.

Chavez Jr. vs. Reyes

Chavez announced that he would be returning on July 18, 2015 against fellow Mexican Marcos Reyes (33-2, 24 KOs) at the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso, Texas in a 10-round super-middleweight bout. Due to Chavez not making weight the fight time, a catchweight of 170 pounds was established. Chavez was fighting for the first time with renowned trainer Robert Garcia. Chavez won a unanimous decision over Reyes with scores off 97-92, 98-91, 96-93. Reyes started each round with more activity and by landing shots. However, Chavez landed three or four heavy shots that moved his Reyes' entire body. The punches seemed to stun Reyes and gave Chavez control of the rounds. The pro Chavez crowd began to jeer his performance during and after the fight.

Chavez Jr. vs. Britsch

In October 2016, it was announced that Chavez Jr. would be making a return on December 10, 2016 at the Monterrey Arena in Mexico against German boxer Dominik Britsch (32-2-1, 11 KOs). A catchweight of 169 pounds was agreed by both fighters. Chavez confirmed he would be trained by his uncle, Rodolfo Chavez. With a win here, Chavez Jr. would look to fight Canelo Álvarez next. Chavez Jr. officially weighed in at 168 pounds, the limit for super middleweight.

Chavez Jr. picked up his 50th win of his career after defeating Britsch in a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision in front of a very small crowd in Mexico. All three judges scored it 99-91 in favor of Chavez. In the post fight interview, Chavez called out Canelo and Gennady Golovkin, "I am happy with the win and my performance. I am ready to come back in two or three months. I don't need another fight. I am ready for a world title fight with anybody or any other big fight."

Chávez Jr. vs. Álvarez

Negotiations began soon after for a potential HBO PPV fight to take place between Chavez and Canelo Álvarez in 2017 on the Cinco de Mayo weekend, as there was interest from both sides that a fight take place. Golden Boy president Eric Gomez confirmed a catchweight of 165 lbs was agreed between both sides. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was on board and said it was a "very attractive fight." and would likely get his organisation involved in the fight.

Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. spoke on December 18 about the ongoing negotiations saying Golden Boy were offering his son a small amount for the potential big ppv fight. He went on to claim his son was offered a $5m purse with no mention he would get a cut of the ppv revenue, a counter offer was submitted. A rematch clause was also discussed, which Chavez Jr. and his team had no problem with. Chavez Sr. went on to admit that he was fully aware Álvarez is the A-side in the fight, and would settle for no less than 30-35% of the full revenue. On December 24, Álvarez and his team gave Chavez a week to accept the terms, which included a purse of $7m, or he would consider other options. On January 12, 2017 De La Hoya and Álvarez called for the contract to be signed, which was supposedly sent to Al Haymon, who advises Chavez Jr. and urged him to sign it. A day later, Chavez Jr. claimed he had agreed all the demands set by Álvarez and was said that he would sign the contract. According to Chavez Jr. the new demands included a weight limit set at 164.5 pounds and a $6 million base purse plus PPV revenue percentages.

On January 13, Álvarez officially confirmed the fight to take place on May 6, 2017. A rematch clause was also put in place if Chavez Jr. wins the fight and another clause for every pound Chavez Jr. weighs over the limit, he would be fined $1 million. On February 4, Golden Boy Promotions announced that the fight would take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The fight was announced a sell out on March 3 with 20,000 tickets being sold after they initially went on sale to the public on February 20.

Trainers

Chavez has been trained by two of his uncles, who have been criticized for not putting their foot down with the young fighter in terms of discipline. Chavez needed more motivation and guidance so he switched from his uncles to famous Freddie Roach to his corner.