Like father, like son - Wayne McCullough reviews Chavez Jr's defeat of Andy Lee

http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,12533_7825158,00.html

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr did not become a big name in boxing because of the way he fights.

His dad, Julio Cesar Chavez, was a former champion and once considered pound for pound one of the best fighters in the world. Chavez Jr can fight but is nowhere near what his dad was. It's hard for a son to follow in his dad's footsteps, especially if they are big shoes to fill.

Chavez Sr has another son, Omar, who is also a successful pro fighter but he does not get the same recognition as his brother, possibly because he isn't the legend's namesake.

Chavez Jr was unbeaten in 47 fights with only one draw going into this past weekend's fight with Andy Lee. He had struggled in fights and has been handed a decision in one or two but there is no denying he has improved through his young career. He turned pro at 17 and was brought along slowly against the right opponents, some tougher than expected. He started at 130lbs and now holds the WBC middleweight belt. He has grown about 6 more inches to stand 6' tall. He was making the third defence of the belt he won in June of last year against Sebastian Abik.

In this fight I saw some signs of Chavez Sr's fighting style in Chavez Jr. Lee, a southpaw, was born in England to Irish parents. He represented Ireland in the 2004 Olympic games. His only defeat out of 29 pro fights was to Brian Vera by stoppage but has since avenged that loss. He stands 6' 2" and has 20 ko's to his name but isn't really known as a big puncher. However his trainer, Emanuel Steward, has him fight like he is a banger. He can put punches together and knows how to box smartly since his loss. His best chance in this fight would be to stay on the outside and use a long right jab to catch the slower Chavez Jr coming forward.

Chavez Jr does hit hard with 31 ko's to his credit but I wouldn't call him a puncher either. He struggles to make this weight so that may have been to Lee's advantage if the fight went to the later rounds. Lee would have to be careful of the double left hook Chavez Jr throws to the body, a punch he picked up from his dad.

Although the fight was in America it was still in Chavez Jr's favor as it took place in El Paso, Texas, a largely populated Hispanic community. Lee got into his rhythm from the start, moving well and landing his long southpaw right jabs to Chavez Jr's chin. It was working in the first two rounds but it was evident that Chavez Jr was getting closer, second after second. You could see the impact Chavez Jr's punches were having on Lee as he struggled to absorb the left hooks to the body.

They both caught each other at the same time in the fourth round with left uppercuts but Chavez Jr landed the harder one. The fight was fought mostly in-close from the third round which suited Chavez Jr. This left Lee struggling to get room to punch.

Chavez Jr was controlling, picking his punches well and winning the rounds. Going into the seventh, it was clear Lee just couldn't keep any distance between him and Chavez Jr. To his credit, Lee took a lot of hard shots and fought back. He left himself open for a hard left hook to the body and when it landed he bent over in pain. A big right to the head almost put him down as referee, Lawrence Cole, stepped in to save him from any more punishment.

In this fight I saw some signs of Chavez Sr's fighting style in Chavez Jr. I had him up by two points going into the seventh round, the same as Harold Letterman on HBO's unofficial scorecard. In my opinion, after the second round, it was all Chavez Jr. But the judges actually had Lee ahead on scores of 58-56 going into his last round fought.

Just last week there was major scoring controversy with the Manny Pacquiao v Timothy Bradley fight which wasn't the worst decision ever. I've seen many more and have been on the receiving end myself.

Chavez Jr should have been ahead on the cards at the time of the stoppage but I don't think anything will be done to change how judges score a fight.

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Regards

Steffan

Why should Junior have been ahead, Lee was fading, but he won 4 of first 6 in my book

I have read a few articles on the fight and most had Junior well ahead and was beating up on Lee as the fight progressed. He has a mean left hook.

I had Junior 4-2 up after 6. I think I gave Lee the first 2 then Junior started to take over.

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:I had Junior 4-2 up after 6. I think I gave Lee the first 2 then Junior started to take over.

People seem to score on personalities as opposed to action.

azania wrote:

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:I had Junior 4-2 up after 6. I think I gave Lee the first 2 then Junior started to take over.

People seem to score on personalities as opposed to action.

I think so their is a big difference between wanting someone to win a round and them actually winning it.

I am not scoring on personality. All three judges had Lee 4-2 up too and they wern't looking to do Lee any favours.

Seanusarrilius wrote: I am not scoring on personality. All three judges had Lee 4-2 up too and they wern't looking to do Lee any favours.

2 of the 3 judges had Bradley. 2 of the 3 judges has Pac winning against JMM. Judges are hardly the ones to call.

I usually score fights when I watch them being the boxing nerd I am.

I had Chavez Jnr a couple up before the stoppage, he seemed to land the more eye catching shots, I had Manny winning by a minimum of 5 rounds the week beforehand, maybes I'm getting like the old U.S judges of old and scoring more on aggression, it's difficult and everyone has a different outlook on a fight.

However take away the judging aspect and look at the fight as a whole if you look at both fights from purely who was the better man and in charge of the action, I'm sure all of us would say Manny and Chavez, looked like total winners from the outset.

Regards

Rodney

azania wrote:

Seanusarrilius wrote: I am not scoring on personality. All three judges had Lee 4-2 up too and they wern't looking to do Lee any favours.

2 of the 3 judges had Bradley. 2 of the 3 judges has Pac winning against JMM. Judges are hardly the ones to call.

Oh please, Az. Lee was fading, but round by round I had him up. Hardly likely they were going to hand Lee rounds in Texas!

Lee was fading because of the beating he was getting.

Stranger things are happening in boxing now. We have a judge saying that Manny didn't look as good as he did before and that swayed his decisions. So who knows. Maybe judges are trying to even out hometown decisions. I wouldn't put it past them. Junior did the right thing and rendered their decision redundant.

had it 3-3