Canelo-Chavez, Jr. Fight Analysis
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 06 May 2017
In less than 24 hrs the boxing world will see if the hype that surrounds the fight between Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (50-1-1, 34KOs) and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (54-2-1, 32KOs, 1 no contest) courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions will live up to what the public has been promised. Both fighters weighed in at 164lbs. Had either fighter been over 164.5 pounds at the official weigh in today, it would have cost either 1million dollars per pound. Chavez Jr. has been known for not making the contracted weight in the past fights and so that clause was added to this contract when this fight was signed. Both fighters appear to be in shape for this fight. What does each fighter have to do to prevail at the sound of the first bell?
Chavez Jr. is clearly the underdog, however he is the bigger and taller fighter. Chavez Jr. does have good boxing skills. This we have seen when he is in shape and focused in the past. Canelo is a puncher that comes forward. He clearly has difficulty with boxers. He officially lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. who outboxed him for 12 rounds back in 2013. Erislandy Lara, WBA Jr. Middleweight champion, outboxed and stayed away from Canelo?s power for 12 rounds but was not awarded the decision victory. Miguel Cotto also boxed and used good movement for 12 rounds but he to was not awarded the decision victory against Canelo. Chavez, Jr. and his trainers have no doubt viewed the film on how these fighters were able to be effective against Canelo. Chavez, Jr. has to fight a perfect fight. He needs to use his jab and use every inch of the ring. While using good movement and boxing skill, he must make Canelo respect his power. The only way to do that is fight with Canelo in the pocket at certain times but then get back to using the entire ring with good movement and boxing skill until the end of the 12 rounds or he stops Canelo via TKO. What does Canelo have to do to defeat Chavez Jr.?
Canelo has to stalk Chavez and cut the ring off. He has to bust through whatever defense Chavez presents. Canelo also will count on Chavez weakening because of being physically drained coming down in weight from as high as a reported 195lbs. Canelo has to not just look for head shots but try and chop down the taller lanky opponent by throwing a lot of body shots. In the end it will come down to who is more focused and able to impose their will on the other fighter.
Did Chavez Jr. have a great training camp or was it just a camp to lose and make weight to pick up a $7million plus check and go off into retirement? Is Canelo focused and set aside his legal issues of being garnished $8.5 million dollars* or is he distracted? These factors for both fighters may affect the outcome of this fight. This writer picks an upset win for Julio Chavez Jr. Chavez Jr. by TKO in the 11th round.
*As of the writing of this article there is no known report of a settlement or that the judgment has been satisfied.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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