Chavez Jr. needs to deliver more
LAS VEGAS – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. did everything he came to do Saturday, routing Matt Vanda in a rematch at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
But the one thing Chavez could not do was to convince many of the 5,414 in attendance that he actually is a legitimate world-class prospect. He's the owner of a glittering 38-0-1 record and is the son of one of the greats in the history of the game.
He only has an 85 mph fastball, though, when he needs to throw 95. Vanda, little more than a hard-nosed journeyman who could never be competitive with a top-20 fighter, was able to stand in toe-to-toe with Chavez and, while the scorecards weren't competitive, the fight itself was.
And that is not a good sign for the future of the son of the future Hall of Famer, who should at this stage of his career be able to dispose of opposition of this type. Though Chavez landed a number of clean right hands to the head, he never came close to stopping Vanda.
Chavez connected on 151 of 469 punches, the majority of which were head shots. Vanda, though, never stopped moving forward.
The bout was a rematch of an unexpectedly competitive bout from July 12, which Chavez won by split decision. He had an easier time Saturday, winning by scores of 99-91, 98-92, 97-93, though the fight was more difficult for him than the scores made it appear.
Vanda, though, should not be confused with anything approaching a contender and so he was hardly a measuring stick. Chavez complained he had flu-like symptoms that hampered him in the July fight and vowed to make a more definitive showing Saturday.
After taking a pounding from a kid eight years his junior, Vanda was sufficiently humbled to talk the brash prefight talk. He was gracious and said Chavez impressed him with the way he put his punches together.
"He's not a kid any more," Vanda said. "He turned into a man tonight. He fought a great fight. The [expletive] is tough. – He threw a couple of good hooks to the body. He was busy and he kept me off-balance."
Chavez, predictably, spoke of bigger and better things in 2009, including winning a world championship. But he hasn't faced anyone remotely close to a contender and isn't in any hurry to do so.
Buried on Saturday's undercard was a fighter the same age, 22-year-old Vanes Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian. While Maritrosyan's progress as a pro has been slow, he is far too advanced for Chavez even though Chavez has nearly twice as many bouts.
The time has come, though, for Top Rank to push him. He's little more than a curiosity now. Promoter Bob Arum has had plenty of those over the years. He had the nearly 400-pound Eric "Butterbean" Esch, whom he dubbed "King of the Four-Rounders" and Mia St. John, a Playboy cover girl, who were regulars on his pay-per-view shows.
Chavez Jr. is now a Top Rank staple solely because of Saturday night. If his name were Julio Cesar Lopez, he'd either be buried on undercards or wouldn't be with the company.
As it is, he's getting a major push because Arum knows that Mexican and Mexican-American fans so adore his father, they'll come out in big numbers to see his son.
Arum heaped on the praise to an adoring, largely Latino media Saturday.
"Julio showed his genius," Arum said, managing to keep a straight face. "He stood in with a tough guy and I thought he did very well."
Arum needs to raise the level of competition in 2009 significantly. If Chavez can't handle it, he'll remain popular because he's still his father's son.
If he handles it, he'll become larger with each succeeding win.
But it's time that he's pushed. Anything less is not fair, to him or his many fans.
"I hope there are bigger and better things next year," Chavez said. "I hope next year there is a world title fight. I think I can do more. You haven't seen 100 percent of Julio Cesar Chavez yet."
There is little doubt about that. And we're anxious to see if 100 percent is good enough to amount to much.
