By James Blears
One of two juniors will have to fight "A Marvel." That’s the ruling of the WBC.
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman says that whoever wins the fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Peter Manfredo Jr, on November 19th at the Reliant Arena in Houston, must face Diamond champion Sergio Martinez next.
Some months ago, during a visit to Mexico, Sampson Lewkowicz, who’s the advisor and mentor of Sergio Martinez, said he wouldn’t want to see this match-up because Julio Jr simply wasn’t ready for such a challenge. But, that was before Julio won the WBC middleweight belt. Sergio holds the Diamond Belt - so if Julio defeats Manfredo, the ring collision path has been ordained by the WBC’s Board of Governors.
Jose Sulaiman stressed: “Let me tell you. Chavez has more than forty victories, he wants to fight Martinez and he’s ready. If he’s not ready now he’ll never be ready.”
Don Jose also warned about Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s huge weight gain between the official weigh-in and the actual fight. He advised:
“Julio has to control his weight. If he doesn’t, he’s going to have a big, big problem, with anybody- not only with Martinez. If he doesn’t control his weight for the Manfredo fight, he might subject himself to a lot of danger. So I think his trainers have to be tougher with him. He is very undisciplined. He’s still a kid at heart. He was born eating steak, not tortillas.”
Quite apart from the maturity enhancing potential of the Martinez fight, Don Jose also suggested:
“It would be a multi-million dollar fight, which is good for both. I believe that Julio wants to show to the world that he is ready. Not only that he's a potential fighter, but that he’s the best. It’s his time! They have to respect the rules and the regulations of the WBC, if they want to be WBC champions.”
