Tweet
Arum interested in matching Chavez Jr. with Andy Lee next
February 5th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Earlier tonight WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO’s) defeated No.1 challenger Marco Antonio Rubio (53-6-1, 46 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Chavez, 25, did what he had to do in overpowering a guy that was a lot smaller and slower than him. After the fight, Chavez Jr. brought up several opponents – Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez – he’d like to face next. However, according ESPN writer Dan Rafael, Chavez Jr’s promoter Bob Arum has already contacted HBO about matching Chavez Jr. against #6 World Boxing Council ranked contender Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KO’s) next rather than Martinez, Margarito or Cotto.
Rafael said “Arum has already been in touch with HBOboxing to say he’d like to next make Chavez-Andy Lee. HBO loves it. Helluva fight.”
I agree. This is a very good, and I think it’s a lot better than Chavez Jr. vs. Margarito. That fight would be a bad mismatch because of how much Margarito has deteriorated in the past four years since his win over Cotto in 2008.
That doesn’t mean that Arum won’t make that fight anyway, because he’s made a lot of match-ups based on what makes money rather than on what would be a competitive fight that boxing fans want to see. Lee can still fight, and with his southpaw stance, I could see him beating the Chavez Jr. that showed up tonight. If Arum takes this fight, he must have a lot of confidence in Chavez Jr. because Lee could ruin things for him by beating him before Arum has a chance for a cash out fight between Chavez Jr. and Cotto or Margarito.
Lee, 27, has won 12 consecutive fights since being stopped in the 7th round by Brian Vera in 2008. Last October, Lee finally avenged that loss by beating Vera by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision. Lee has really improved since 2008, and I think Chavez Jr. would have a lot of problems against him if Arum makes this fight.
I kind of have my doubts that he’s serious about that fight, though, as Arum often names drops top fighters to keep the attention on his guy in the media. We could be hearing Lee’s name for Chavez Jr. but when April or May rolls around, Arum could pull the bait and switch by putting Margarito in with Chavez Jr. for a nice little mismatch that would make money but be a real stinker of fight.
Margarito isn’t a middleweight and he’s be way over his head against the cruiserweight-sized Chavez Jr. Margarito would come into the fight a little over 160, whereas Chavez Jr. would probably fight at near 190 and simply be too big and too strong for margarita to contend with.
As far as last night’s fight goes, Rubio didn’t look at all impressive for the most part. He looked slow, weak and like he didn’t belong as a number #1 ranked contender. I guess Chavez’s management could see what I saw, which is probably why Rubio was picked out rather than someone that could actually fight.
http://www.************.com/2012/02/...andy-lee-next/
February 5th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Earlier tonight WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO’s) defeated No.1 challenger Marco Antonio Rubio (53-6-1, 46 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Chavez, 25, did what he had to do in overpowering a guy that was a lot smaller and slower than him. After the fight, Chavez Jr. brought up several opponents – Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez – he’d like to face next. However, according ESPN writer Dan Rafael, Chavez Jr’s promoter Bob Arum has already contacted HBO about matching Chavez Jr. against #6 World Boxing Council ranked contender Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KO’s) next rather than Martinez, Margarito or Cotto.
Rafael said “Arum has already been in touch with HBOboxing to say he’d like to next make Chavez-Andy Lee. HBO loves it. Helluva fight.”
I agree. This is a very good, and I think it’s a lot better than Chavez Jr. vs. Margarito. That fight would be a bad mismatch because of how much Margarito has deteriorated in the past four years since his win over Cotto in 2008.
That doesn’t mean that Arum won’t make that fight anyway, because he’s made a lot of match-ups based on what makes money rather than on what would be a competitive fight that boxing fans want to see. Lee can still fight, and with his southpaw stance, I could see him beating the Chavez Jr. that showed up tonight. If Arum takes this fight, he must have a lot of confidence in Chavez Jr. because Lee could ruin things for him by beating him before Arum has a chance for a cash out fight between Chavez Jr. and Cotto or Margarito.
Lee, 27, has won 12 consecutive fights since being stopped in the 7th round by Brian Vera in 2008. Last October, Lee finally avenged that loss by beating Vera by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision. Lee has really improved since 2008, and I think Chavez Jr. would have a lot of problems against him if Arum makes this fight.
I kind of have my doubts that he’s serious about that fight, though, as Arum often names drops top fighters to keep the attention on his guy in the media. We could be hearing Lee’s name for Chavez Jr. but when April or May rolls around, Arum could pull the bait and switch by putting Margarito in with Chavez Jr. for a nice little mismatch that would make money but be a real stinker of fight.
Margarito isn’t a middleweight and he’s be way over his head against the cruiserweight-sized Chavez Jr. Margarito would come into the fight a little over 160, whereas Chavez Jr. would probably fight at near 190 and simply be too big and too strong for margarita to contend with.
As far as last night’s fight goes, Rubio didn’t look at all impressive for the most part. He looked slow, weak and like he didn’t belong as a number #1 ranked contender. I guess Chavez’s management could see what I saw, which is probably why Rubio was picked out rather than someone that could actually fight.
http://www.************.com/2012/02/...andy-lee-next/
Comment