By Miguel Rivera
Over the last few years, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has become the black sheep of Mexican boxing.
After testing positive for marijuana in 2012, struggling to make weight for several contests and putting in some lackluster performances, the popularity of Chavez Jr. has dwindled.
But now he finds himself in position to win a lot of them back - depending on the outcome of his upcoming fight with arguably the biggest boxing name in Mexico, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
The two boxers are scheduled to collide on May 6th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Canelo (48-1-1 record with 34 knockouts) vs. Chavez Jr. (50-2-1 with 32 wins within the distance) will take place at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds - and headlines an HBO Pay-Per-View card.
Chavez Jr. has maintained that Canelo selected him for an easy payday, but he plans to make him regret that decision.
"From my point of view, I think Canelo and his team flipped a coin and said Gennady Golovkin or Julio Cesar Chavez, and they said - 'Chavez is easier and we are going to make more money, so we are going to go with Chávez'.......... but here is what I think......... I can be stronger and tougher than Golovkin," Chavez Jr. told ESPN Deportes.
"It's a good fight and I am supposedly not at my best, but I think that I'm going to bite down hard and give everything that I have left in boxing. I also feel that I have a lot of chances to take this opportunity, to give a good fight and win it. Above everything, I want to win the affection of the fans. It's going to be a good fight, not only for Mexicans, but worldwide.
"Cotto-Canelo looked like a sparring session to me. Nobody fought with everything [in that fight] and this fight will not be like that. I think this is going to be a fight with more action."
