By Miguel Rivera
As previously reported, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (49-2-1, 32KOs) suffered an injury to his left heel during training.
The injury forced him to withdraw from a planned fight with WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack on April 30th.
Jack's handlers rushed to action and secured what many feel is a tougher replacement. They quickly finalized a Showtime televised fight against former IBF champion Lucian Bute of Canada.
With the WBC's pressure mounting for a title defense, Jack was unable to wait on Chavez any longer.
Chavez Jr. has been inactive since last July's decision win over Marcos Reyes in Texas. During that fight Chavez injured his hand and the injury kept him out of the ring for the remainder of the year. He wants to return as soon as possible to prevent his period of inactivity from expanding any further.
He admits that his weight skyrocketed from the extended layoff due to the surgical procedure for the hand. He ballooned all the way up to 195-pounds. Once he began training, he says the weight was quickly coming off and believes there wouldn't have been an issue with making the WBC super middleweight limit of 168-pounds. Chavez has not weighed under 170-pounds in over two years. His last two fights had contracted catch-weights for 172-pounds.
"I got heavy after the operation. I went up to 195 pounds, but I was less than 190 pounds [once I started camp]. I was getting better [with the weight] Everything was going well - until the injury happened with the heel and I got a scolding from my dad. I feel bad because I wanted the opportunity to fight for the world championship. Now I have to stay strong, hoping to fight in the first or second week of May," Chavez told Golpe a Golpe.
