Chavez Jr. Training Hard For Possible Jack Bout, Says Garcia

By Miguel Rivera

According to trainer Robert Garcia, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is training very hard for a potential return in April against WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack. Two tentative dates being mentioned are April 16th and April 30th.

Jack was last in the ring in September 2015, when he won a twelve round split decision over mandatory challenger George Groves. The bout took place on undercard to the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Chavez had one of the worst years of his career in 2015. After a long layoff, he moved up by two weight divisions last April to light heavyweight and was being trained by coach Joe Goossen. Things did not go as planned when he was dominated and knocked out in nine rounds by Andrzej Fonfara. Then he returned in July, now with Garcia as head trainer, and won a lackluster decision over Marcos Reyes.

It was revealed after the Reyes bout that Chavez had suffered a severe hand injury. After some rehab on the hand, the injury became more serious and he was forced to undergo surgery that kept him out of the ring for the remainder of the year.

Both Chavez and Jack traveled to the WBC's annual convention late last year and sanctioning body president Mauricio Sulaiman gave his blessing if the two boxers decided to fight each other this year - since Jack is now in the period where he can make a voluntary defense.

"He is training in Big Bear, and began to run yesterday. I was training with him for two hours. The fight won't be until late April, so we have plenty of time to work," revealed Garcia to ESPN Deportes.

"He is focused, we have him a bit isolated, because it is covered with snow and sometimes people can't even move. I brought in a chef who prepares meals that are suitable for his diet, so that way he loses the weight in time. The plan is to stay on the mountain for three or four more weeks and then continue to train in the gym at Riverside."

Garcia is also not worried about the recent comments made by Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., who wanted his son to go back to Freddie Roach.

"That does not worry me. The only thing I can say is that his dad was a great champion, a great fighter, the best that Mexico has had and I admire everything he did during his career, but in the end the one who makes the decisions about his career is Chavez Jr," concluded Garcia.