by David P. Greisman
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s next fight is clearly intended as a comeback bout, one that’ll help him rebuild and rebound from an April technical knockout loss to Andzrej Fonfara.
He’ll face Marcos Reyes, a longtime 154- and 160-pounder who is 33-2 with 24 KOs, is coming off a win over David Lopez and, before that, a majority decision loss to Abraham Han. While Chavez Jr. was once a middleweight titleholder, he’s outgrown that division, having fought Brian Vera at 172 and 168 pounds before unsuccessfully challenging Fonfara at a catch-weight of 172. Chavez took punishment and then quit shortly after a knockdown, citing an injury.
Chavez-Reyes will be in El Paso, Texas, in a main event being broadcast July 18 on Showtime. As with every fighter, Chavez says he’s coming into the bout with the intent to win.
And he knows that’s precisely what should happen.
“If I lost this fight, I would maybe think about retiring,” Chavez said, according to a translator. “Because this is not the type of rival that should beat me. The type of rivals that I’ve fought are much, much better and tougher.”
Besides Fonfara, the only other official loss on Chavez’s record came against then-middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in 2012. Chavez, a 29-year-old who turned pro as a teen and basically learned on the job as his body filled out, is now 48-2-1 with 32 KOs.
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