Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Rubio Signed, Winner Faces Sergio Martinez Next

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has agreed to face Sergio Martinez should he defeat his WBC mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio, a tough fighter with good skills and a knockout punch.

The WBC previously wanted to strip Chavez of his title for not facing Martinez, who the WBC made his mandatory. Now Chavez is facing Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KO), an alternate, but deserving mandatory.

Rubio earned it with a knockout of previously-undefeated David Lemieux (25-2, 24 KO) in Round 7 of a title eliminator and then knocked out former Chavez rival Matt Vanda (44-14, 24 KO) in five rounds. 

According to Boxing Scene, Rubio's promoter Oswaldo Kuchle had this to say about the deal:

"

We have received a contract to face Chavez on February 4th. The purse and venue have all been agreed upon. The fight will be in San Antonio. Chavez's team reached an agreement with Martinez's people. The agreement is that the winner will face Martinez in their next fight. I sat ringside next to Martinez. He told me that Rubio will knockout Chavez in six rounds or less.

"

My Two Cents

This is big news for those that believed Chavez Jr. would rather get stripped than face the original owner of the belt in Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO).

Martinez was stripped for not facing mandatory in Sebastian Zbik (30-1, 10 KO). HBO didn't want Martinez vs. Zbik and instead paired him with another challenger.

Chavez (44-0-1, 31 KO) took the opportunity to face and hand the previously undefeated fighter Zbik his first loss by majority decision to win the vacant WBC middleweight (160 lbs.) world title.

Chavez is rapidly increasing his level of competition to hurry towards becoming championship-level material. After beating Zbik, 30-year-old Chavez faced Peter Manfredo (37-7, 20 KO).

Manfredo has competed at the middleweight and super middleweight (168 lbs.) divisions with consistent well-respected body of work with inspiring championship bids against top competitors.

Chavez took Manfredo out in five rounds and showed a maturity in his movement, strong jab and more evasive techniques to avoid punches instead of absorb punishment as much as he used to.

With Rubio, Chavez will face his biggest challenge yet on the road to Martinez. Even Martinez predicts Rubio will "knockout Chavez in six rounds or less."

If Chavez can reverse Martinez's "prediction" and instead knock Rubio out in six rounds or less, Chavez vs. Martinez will get a whole lot more interesting.