Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Beats Sebastian Zbik: 5 Thoughts on the Fight
Saturday night in Los Angeles Julio Cesar Chavez Jr won an action-filled decision over Sebastian Zbik of Germany to capture the WBC version of the Middleweight Championship of the World. Now undefeated in 46 fights, the son of the Mexican legend continues to see his star rise.
It was instructive to compare the large crowd Chavez fought in front of to the relatively small room in Atlantic City where Carl Froch and Glen Johnson battled in the semifinal of the Showtime Super Six Super Middleweight tournament. You know a lot of people in the boxing business would love to see the emergence of JC Superstar 2.0.
But clearly the young man still has a long way to go before he can began to approach the legend of his father. His win on Saturday didn't ultimately answer many questions for boxing fans, but it does give us a few things to discuss.
The Decision Was Anything but Decisive
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Sure, the big headline story for the night was about Chavez capturing his first belt to lay upon the family mantle next to that mountain of hardware his mythic father has compiled. But there's no way to overlook the fact that a lot of people who watched that fight came away believing that Sebastian Zbik, not Chavez, should have been the one to have his hand raised.
Zbik was the far more accurate puncher throughout the night. He landed flush shots in every round. Chavez did an excellent job of cutting off the ring and working Zbik's body, forcing the German champion to stand and exchange. But Zbik as often as not managed to win those exchanges.
Zbik's reaction to the decision showed that he clearly felt he had done enough to win. He was gracious in his post-fight interview, complimenting Chavez as a tough opponent, but noting that he had anticipated that he might have trouble winning close rounds in front of the Los Angeles crowd.
I missed the first two rounds while watching Froch-Johnson and scored the last 10 96-94 for Chavez. From what I have heard, pretty much everyone scored the first two for Zbik, so assuming I had done the same, my card would have been a 114-114 draw.
Chavez Isn't Ready for Sergio Martinez
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Chavez got hit by Zbik. A lot. There is no reason to assume that Sergio Martinez, Ring Magazine's current pound-for-pound No. 3, wouldn't be able to land on Chavez with similar ease. And I simply cannot believe that Chavez would be able to get hit like that by Martinez and still finish the fight on his feet.
Chavez was asked about the possibility of fighting Martinez, the WBA belt holder, during his post-fight interview. Chavez answered that he would fight whoever Bob Arum paid him to fight.
A promoter as shrewd as Arum is going to be very careful when handling his golden egg-laying goose. So I have to think he's going to want to see Chavez spend more time with Freddy Roach before he's going to want to pay him to fight Martinez.
In a fair world, Chavez's next fight would be a return encounter with Zbik. I believe when a champion loses that close of a decision, he deserves a rematch. But I'm not expecting anybody looking to make a lot of money off from Chavez to feel the same way.
Chavez Got into Some Pretty Deep Water and Managed to Swim
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Going in to the fight 30-0, Zbik represented a significant step up in competition for Chavez Jr., who has been criticized as an overprotected fighter. The early rounds were all Zbik, as the challenger struggled to adjust to a level of competition he was clearly unfamiliar with.
Chavez stuck to his game plan and rallied hard in the later rounds of the fight. While Zbik continued to be able to land, Chavez made sure he paid for it whenever he came into range.
But Zbik, who was visibly smaller than Chavez and has only 10 knockouts on his record, clearly did not have enough power to really hurt Chavez. So while we now know that Chavez can handle being hit a lot, it remains to be seen how he will react when he really gets rocked.
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The Fight Did Nothing to Raise the Prestiege of the Santioning Bodies
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The WBC now recognizes Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as the Middleweight Champion of the World. Over in Germany, the IBF says it's Felix Sturm. Meanwhile, the WBA, Ring Magazine and every remotely knowledgeable fan on the planet all recognize that the man at 160 pounds is Sergio Martinez.
Last month Ring didn't even have Chavez ranked in the top 10, though by beating their No. 6, Zbik, he will have earned his way onto the next list.
Max Kellerman ended his part of the broadcast Saturday by taking a swipe at the sanctioning bodies, dismissing alphabet soup belts as nothing more than promotional tools.
He's right. When I talk to other fans about boxing, we talk about what matchups we'd like to see, and the various belts don't even get mentioned. And it's the sanctioning organizations, as often as not, who prevent the fights we'd like to see from getting made, by pushing their own champions to fight "mandatory No. 1 contenders" instead of letting them go out and pursue unification against the other "champs."
Chavez Has the Keys to Stardom, so Long as He Has the Talent to Drive
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The kid has an exciting brawling style and teenybopper heartthrob good looks. Promoters would be drooling over him even if he wasn't the son and namesake of the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.
Throughout his career, Chavez's paternal lineage has opened doors to high profile undercard spots. Now that he is emerging as a headliner in his own right, the potential gate receipts are huge.
Future fights against middleweight opponents such as Paul Williams, and eventually, Sergio Martinez, will be big-time boxing events if everything fall into place properly. Other potential big paydays could come against Miguel Cotto or fellow Mexican sensation Saul Alvarez, should either junior middleweight belt holder be interested in moving up. And Chavez has a frame that should allow him to climb up and compete at some point in the loaded super middleweight division.
The stars are all aligned for Chavez to have a storybook career. But it still remains to be seen if he will be able to live up to the epic plot line that so many would love to place upon his young shoulders.
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