By Jake Donovan
Like it or not, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. can fight.
Any questions you could have of young Chavez were emphatically answered tonight, courtesy of his body shot knockout of Ray Sanchez in the 6 th round of a fever-pitched battle at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The biggest knock on the 21-year young Chavez was the slow road toward contender status, his handlers accused of milking his famous family name while padding his record against a series of no-hopers. Whatever validity previously came with that claim evaporated the moment Ray Sanchez agreed to invite Julio to his hometown for their crossroads fight.
Any questions of his chin, heart and overall skill level were answered throughout the bout, one that will easily land in the honorable mention section come time to determine 2007's Fight of the Year. Sanchez deserves credit for forcing Chavez to prove his mettle, taking the fight to the son of Mexico's greatest legend right from the opening bell.
Despite fighting in his own hometown, Sanchez found himself short on fan support, with many of the 6,077 pulling for the young lion of Culiacan. Sanchez managed to convert some disbelievers early, testing Chavez' fighting heart while working behind his jab from the southpaw stance. The crowd still went crazy anytime Chavez landed, with his right hand his most effective weapon in the opening round. Sanchez' success came in his jab and body work.
Chavez picked up the pace in round two, almost shades of papa Julio Sr., a notoriously slow starter during his heyday. Chavez' right hand began to land with greater regularity, as did his left hook. Sanchez was still beating Chavez to the punch, with his right uppercut discouraging several Chavez rallies throughout the round. But it was Chavez who would finish the round strong, with a left hook rocking Sanchez and an ensuing flurry leaving Sanchez to resemble a bobblehead doll.
It was all two-way action throughout the third and fourth rounds, before Sanchez attempted to turn the brawl into a boxing match at the start of the fifth. The stick-and-move tactic didn't go over well with the crowd, immediately voicing their displeasure. Chavez would give them plenty of reason to cheer, as he went into stalker mode with his attack. The round was foreshadowing of things to come – Chavez fighting like a man with something to prove, Sanchez fighting for the sake of fighting back once boxing didn't prevail. That didn't stop Sanchez from having his moments, responding well towards rounds close, including two straight lefts just as Chavez appeared to have Sanchez on the way out.
Sanchez fought from the outside to start the sixth, but Chavez was having none of it, going to the body. Sanchez bounced on his toes while attempting to work behind his jab, but was running on empty while Chavez was just getting warmed up. A left hook rocked Sanchez, proving to be the beginning of the end. Chavez unloaded until Sanchez crumpled to the canvas, taking the full ten count to end the fight, prompting a mighty roar from the near-capacity crowd.
The official time was 1:33 of round six.
Sanchez falls to 20-2-1 (15KO), with both of his career losses coming inside the distance.
While skeptics were forced to devour helpings of humble pie, the outcome was one that Chavez believed was never in doubt.
"I knew I was stronger than him," said Chavez, who rolls to 34-0-1 (27KO) with the win. "To be honest, I knew all along that I am at a different level. They said a lot about his amateur background, and that I don't have one. But in the end, it's the pro fights that count."
Tonight's performance, no matter how impressive, only counts as one win, the same as any of his previous thirty-three. But with Sanchez representing his toughest test to date, it was no doubt his most convincing win to date. Though not for very long, so suggests his team.
"We're keeping the kid active, and we'll continue to move him up in class," said Hall-of-Fame promoter Bob Arum, whose Top Rank promotional outfit financed the independent PPV event. "His next opponent will be a contender, perhaps someone like Carlos Baldomir, and we'll continue to advance his career."
The rumors swirling before the fight had Chavez Jr. facing Alfonso Gomez in late April. That fight remains a possibility – HBO and Arum worked out an agreement, even though it meant the date moving back a month. But rather than wait for April, Arum wants to keep things moving along.
"Absolutely, activity with this kid. We don't wait for handouts from nobody, not HBO or Showtime. I want to bring this kid back as soon as possible, most likely in January."
And if no networks are available?
"Then we'll do it ourselves. Again. Some promoters in this game are able to do shows without having to wait on a handout. Don King, God bless his heart, is one. Kathy Duva and Main Events are another. And Top Rank is included in that group."
After tonight, Chavez Jr. must be included in any discussion regarding tomorrow's future stars.
The three-fight undercard covered just about every aspect of boxing, with a distance fight sandwiched in between two all-too brief encounters.
Jorge Arce sent an emphatic message that he doesn't plan on going anywhere but back to the top, stopping Megdoen Singsurat with body shots just 0:48 into the fight. Singsurat never had a chance to get going, as it was all Arce for as long (or short) as it landed.
If a moral victory was to be found, it was in Singsurat blocking the first power punch thrown by Arce, a left hand. However, a follow up right set up a flurry by Arce, who sniffed blood and never relented. A hard body shot froze Singsurat, with a follow up forcing him to take a knee. Singsurat remained down for the full ten count, and continued to double over in pain throughout the post-fight announcement.
For Arce (48-4-1, 36KO), it was his second straight win – and knockout - since being thoroughly outboxed by Cristian Mijares earlier this year. The win sets up a showdown with former junior bantamweight champ Martin Castillo, scheduled for the 1 st quarter of 2008, though the exact card has yet to be determined.
Preliminary reports from other websites suggesting Arce-Castillo will serve as the co-feature to the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor rematch next February proved to be premature. The slot was one of three possibilities, with the co-feature to another rematch – Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II a month later – another option.
Behind door number three is the one where Top Rank believes lies the grand prize.
"We were thinking about either of the two HBO PPV's for the fight. But now it looks like the two will fight on the undercard of Chavez Jr's next PPV show, sometime in January 2008."
Singsurat snaps an eleven-fight win streak with the loss, falling to 48-5 (34KO).
To the exact opposite extreme of the co-feature, linear junior flyweight king Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon made the first defense of his title with a unanimous decision over Juan Esquer in a battle that tapped into boxing's longtime Mexican-Puerto Rican rivalry.
Calderon (30-0, 6KO) can box with the best of them, though it doesn't always go over so well with the crowd. Such was the case tonight, with the predominantly Mexican/Mexican-American crowd voicing their displeasure Calderon did anything other than stand directly in front of his 21-year old Mexican challenger.
Esquer did his best to give the people what they wanted, constantly coming forward, though landing very little (15% of his punches, according to Compubox at ringside). Still, his aggression, however ineffective, was enough to raise concern in the Calderon corner midway through the bout.
"My corner was a little worried after the seventh round." Confessed Calderon. "Miguel Diaz, my cutman, told me I needed to stand and punch more, that he felt I was moving around too much and that the judges wouldn't give me credit."
Calderon did as instructed in the proceeding rounds, starting each of the frames with straight lefts rather than immediately employing lateral movement. The mix of trading and boxing frustrated Esquer, whose only plan seemed to be to throw punches, hoping something would eventually land.
The final scores suggested no two judges are alike in their scoring preference. All three cards went Calderon's way, with scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 118-110 predictably met by a chorus of boos from the crowd, who obviously favored Esquer's aggression (or perhaps just his being Mexican).
BoxingScene.com scored the bout 117-111 from ringside.
There were no need for scorecards in the PPV opener, as Mike Alvarado's bout with Michael Clark was over before it had a chance to get going. It wasn't the showcase bout that the undefeated junior welterweight had hoped for, but in the end it goes in the books as a TKO1, as Clark injured his right hand with the very first thrown, prompting a medical stoppage midway through the round.
The injury occurred with the first punch Clark attempted in the fight, though there was widespread speculation to which punch actually caused the damage. Clark and his corner insisted afterward that he injured his hand countering an Alvarado right. Alvarado's camp, as well as most among the Top Rank staff, believe it occurred when Alvarado landed a right hand on Clark's forearm coming in.
Whatever the case, the sequence prompted Clark to hop around the ring, obviously overwhelmed with pain. He spent the remainder of the aborted bout in retreat mode, offering no offense as Alvarado looked to attack.
Time was called at the 1:27 mark, at which point the ringside physician examined Clark and decided he was unfit to continue. His unofficial diagnosis was that Clark suffered a fractured right mitt which could take upwards of 60 days to heal.
Having barely broken a sweat, Alvarado was anxious to return to the ring as soon as possible.
"It's just the way boxing goes sometimes," said Alvarado, now 19-0 (13KO). "Of course, I wanted it to go longer, but I still feel good. I did what I could in the little time we had, but all that means is I'm ready to come back as soon as Top Rank allows me."
The suggestion from Top Rank staff was that Alvarado would be brought back along with Chavez Jr and Arce on the aforementioned January 2008 independent PPV.
Tonight's card was presented by Top Rank Promotions, in association with Prime Time Promotions and Tecate.
Jake "The Jake-of-All-Trades" Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, a licensed judge, manager and promoter, and presently serves on the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.