By Jose Luis Camarillo, notifight.com
WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has promised (45-0, 31KOs) to correct his pre-fight issues with making weight - and says he will now be a very "responsible fighter." The 26-year-old champion will defend his title on June 16th against Irishman Andy Lee (28-1, 20KOs) at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
For his last bout, against Marco Antonio Rubio in February, Chavez admits he struggled to lose the last few pounds. He still made the middleweight limit, coming in at 159.5-pounds, but gained over 20-pounds by the time he stepped in the ring with Rubio.
For his next fight, he says Lee "is a very tough opponent, and maybe the toughest of my career." He blames a short camp for his weight-making issues against Rubio, stating that he only trained "for six weeks."
For Lee, Chavez has already started training in Cancun, Mexico. He plans to continue training in Los Angeles and also in Las Vegas, but made no mention of traveling over to the Philippines, where his trainer Freddie Roach is working with Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan.