By Miguel Rivera
In two weeks, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will report to trainer Robert Garcia at his gym in Riverside, California.
Both Garcia and Chavez are united in wanting the next fight to take place at the super middleweight limit of 168-pounds. Chavez Jr., who last month won a ten round unanimous decision over Marco "Dorado" Reyes in El Paso, Texas, hopes to possibly return on a date in November.
Three of Chavez's last four fights have taken place at 170-pounds or above - with two of them initially being scheduled for 168. The last fight with Reyes had a max of 169 and then moved up to 170 but Chavez still came in overweight.
"What I'm going to ask is that he make the effort and has the discipline to reach 168 pounds, because that's where I think can get the most [success], where he'll have the best conditions to fight well and become the new champion world," said Garcia to ESPN Deportes. "If a championship fight comes around, then you have to make weight. There is no tolerance [when a title is at stake], and so this will be a good way to know how much work it will cost [to get to 168]."
Chavez Jr. suffered a minor fracture to his left hand during the Reyes win and Garcia hopes the boxer will be able to use his hand sooner than later.
"He told me about the fracture, he is evaluating that. He has not hit anything and when he gets to the gym we'll see if he can use it or not, but he must be one hundred percent to be at his full potential, I think he will be for the next fight and even better [than he was in July]," Garcia said.