Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is looking towards the future beyond his upcoming June 19th fight against 46 year old MMA legend Anderson Silva. And what he hopes to see on the horizon should sadden and horrify boxing fans: A rematch with Canelo Alvarez.
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Chavez Jr. blamed his poor performance in the first Canelo fight on weight issues, and hopes to rematch at a more comfortable 175 lb. weight.
Yeah, it’ll be a different fight if we do meet again… I think it will be a great show if we do make it happen.”
“After Silva, I’m thinking one more fight, then I’ll be prepared to face Canelo.”
Chavez Jr. originally faced Canelo at a 164.5 lb. catchweight in May 2017, where his greatest success was making the contractual weight with a few ounces to spare. Canelo won all twelve rounds without ever sitting to rest on his stool, and the most exciting thing to happen all night was the post-fight announcement of the long-awaited showdown between Canelo and Gennadiy Golovkin.
After that Canelo fight, Chavez Jr. was robbed of his watch, phone, and fight check by women he brought back to his hotel room. His own father said he should retire rather than keep making the same mistakes, and Chavez Jr. admitted he’d starved himself for two weeks just to make weight.
Since then, Chavez Jr. has fought four times, including two widely derided losses. In December 2019, he gave up $1 Million of his purse after breaking weight by 5 pounds in what should have been a super middleweight fight against Danny Jacobs. Chavez Jr. quit on his stool after 5 ineffective rounds, ultimately fleeing the ring under a hail of trash and boos from the furious crowd.
After the Jacobs fight, Chavez Jr. was suspended indefinitely in Nevada and Arizona for refusing to submit to VADA drug testing. He has not fought outside of Mexico since.
His first fight after that suspension was a stunning technical decision loss to Mario Cazares in September of 2020. Cazares, at the time a little-known 30 year old, won on all three cards after a stoppage due to a cut on the eyelid of Chavez Jr. Cazares, whose only fight against an opponent with a winning record prior to Chavez Jr. was against someone with a 9-8-1 history, has yet to fight again.
