Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. cheats fans in disgraceful loss to Daniel Jacobs
The stands at Talking Stick Resort were filled with people who show up to work hard every day, who give an honest effort, who follow the rules and who try to do the right thing.
They paid good money on Friday to watch a boxer who, unlike his famous father, does none of those things.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. turned in yet another disgraceful effort Friday in Phoenix, quitting after five rounds of his bout on DAZN against former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs.
Chavez was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission because he’d refused to take a random drug test once the fight was announced. He has a history of anti-doping violations and it was no shock that he would decline to take a surprise test.
Because of that, the fight was moved to Phoenix. Chavez sued the Nevada Athletic Commission to prevent the suspension and allow him to fight. A Nevada judge granted him a temporary restraining order that allowed the fight to proceed, but that was the bad news for the boxing fans in Phoenix.
Chavez, of course, cheated them. First, he failed to make weight on Thursday, continuing a pattern that’s dogged him throughout his career. He was nearly five pounds over, and Jacobs said after Chavez quit after the fifth round that he felt like a cruiserweight.
He had to give $1 million of his purse to Jacobs for failing to make weight, but even that ignominy is not enough to embarrass this entitled excuse of an athlete.
Promoters continue to use him because he sells tickets, largely because his father was one of the greatest boxers of all-time and arguably the No. 1 sports hero in Mexican history. But this spoiled and petulant man has none of the blue-collar work ethic that made his father a legend.
He came out strong in the first round, but as is typically the case in his fights he got substantially worse as each minute ticked off the clock. Jacobs had taken over the fight in the fifth and Chavez simply looked for a way out.
Trainer Freddie Roach said Chavez had broken his nose and couldn’t breathe. Chavez himself said he injured his hand.
But this was a microcosm of his career. He was treated differently by promoter Eddie Hearn and athletic commission officials in Arizona because of his name. He was paid $3 million and didn’t seem to mind having to give a third of that to Jacobs for failing to make weight. Hearn signed Gabriel Rosado and put him on the undercard as a standby in case Chavez failed to show for one reason or another.
He has some talent and showed well in the first round, but per his history, he faded quickly and surrendered when he was confronted with the least bit of adversity.
When the fight was stopped, Chavez Sr. covered his face with his hand and dropped his head to his chest in apparent disgust and embarrassment.
It’s long past time for promoters to continue to kowtow to this fighter, because at the end of the day, he cheats the fans out of their money. They didn’t, and haven’t for a long time when paying to watch Chavez, get what they paid for.
Promoters who keep putting him on are simply showing disdain for the fans, their paying customers.
He shares his father’s name, but none of his father’s traits that made him great. Fans should continue to worship Senior and revel in his legendary career, but it’s time to move on from Junior.
He is what he is and he’s never going to change.
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