By Miguel Rivera
Former world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-3-1, 32 KOs) has been out of the ring since May 2017, when he suffered a one-sided twelve round decision loss to Mexican rival Canelo Alvarez at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The contest took place at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds - which was the lowest weight of Chavez's career since 2012.
The drop in weight was too much, and he seemed to be a dead man in the ring with very little energy.
Chavez Jr., 32-years-old, is still planning to work hard to return to the ring at some point in 2018.
He says the weight, inactivity, and pre-fight injuries, was a combination for failure in his last fight.
"[After I lost to Canelo] I lost the desire to box, that's how they I felt for a few months. Until about five months ago I decided that I wanted to continue boxing, to fight at my weight. I want to be given the opportunity to fight once or twice more to show the best of myself. I feel that I have something to give in boxing, but I have not done things correctly, I have not made the right decisions," Chavez Jr. told ESPN Deportes.
"There were many things, mainly two things, the weight, the fine (1 million dollars for each pound over the 164.5 limit) for the weight that affected me a lot mentally, and inactivity, because I was coming back from a bad fracture of my hand and that affected me a lot. That was 60-70% of what happened in the fight, along with his style because he is a short fighter.... he was active, he is not a bad fighter. With everything combined it was not a competitive fight like I expected, but I think the main thing was the weight."
"I feel that I'm owed a second chance, to give the best of myself, so that people do not say that the son of Chavez or Julio César Chávez Jr. has many qualities, but has not taken advantage of his qualities or opportunities. I have to give the best for the people, I owe it to the people."
