By Jhonny Gonzalez
According to sources in Mexico, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is reportedly not happy with the idea of having to spend several weeks in the Philippines to prepare for a fight with WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Chavez's new trainer, Freddie Roach, will be in the Philippines for several weeks to train Manny Pacquiao for his fight with Antonio Margarito on November 13. Cotto vs. Chavez is tentative for December 4.
Several of Roach's fighters, including 140-pound champion Amir Khan and junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan, have fights scheduled around the same period. Roach wanted to train several of them, including Chavez, at the same time in the Philippines before returning to the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Roach wanted to use Chavez as the chief sparring partner for Pacquiao. He says Chavez has the ability and the physical form to duplicate the style of Margarito.
There is a three week gap between Pacquiao-Margarito and Cotto-Chavez. It's hard to see Chavez going forward with such a tough fight without a full training camp with Roach and conditioning expert Alex Ariza. Chavez needs extra attention for this camp because he's had trouble making 154-pounds. Roach says "it'll be a little tough, but he'll make it."
Roach and Ariza will have to sort out the situation to ensure all of their schedules cooperate, or maybe Chavez changes his mind and gets with the program.
