CHAVEZ JR SHOWS HE?S READY
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 28 Jun 2010
If there were any doubts about the attitude and the skills of the ?Son of the Legend? Julio Cesar Chavez Jr they were quickly dispelled following Chavez Jr?s impressive twelve round decision over game John Duddy of Ireland to win the vacant WBC silver middleweight title before a huge predominantly Mexican crowd at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, Manila Time.
Chavez nailed the gallant Irishman with vicious combinations beginning the middle rounds but although he was staggered quite a few times, Duddy refused to cave in and on occasions fought back furiously to win the respect of both Chavez and fight fans but in the end Duddy was busted up.
All three judges had Chavez the winner but the scorecards failed to reflect the closeness of a fight that may well be considered among the candidates for the ?Fight of the Year? because of its non-stop action and the ability displayed by both fighters.
With the win the undefeated Chavez moved up to 41-0 with 30 knockouts while Duddy dropped to 29-2 with 18 knockouts.
After feeling out Duddy in the early rounds during which Chavez used his jab to advantage and caught Duddy with some solid rights to the jaw while Duddy tried to work behind his jab, the action picked up in the fourth round with both fighters trading some hard shots with Chavez favoring a left hook to the body and an overhand right to the side of the head.
Duddy caught Chavez against the ropes in round four and they began to throw some heavy handed blows and although Duddy nailed Chavez with some good shots the 24 year old Mexican came back in a hurry and smashed a right to Duddy?s jaw. Both fighters were letting their hands go with Chavez battering Duddy towards the end of each round.
Duddy was able to land a good shot here and there, but Chavez was connecting with the heavier punches. Chavez landed a four punch combo to end round five and while Chavez's eyes were bruising Duddy's left eye was swelling bad. Round six was one of Duddy?s best and as they traded punches Duddy shook Chavez with a solid hook and went after the Mexican who quickly covered up before working the inside and countering well.
Chavez came out swinging in the seventh round and was starting to take control of the fight cracking Duddy with some devastating punches to the head and as the Irishman gamely stnoody his ground, Chavez continued to demonstrate how much he had learned from Roach and how much his conditioning had improved under Ariza.
Every time it seemed Chavez would take him out, Duddy would dig deep to find reserves of energy to stay in the fight. In the tenth Chavez again hurt Duddy with a tremendous body shot and went after him but the Irishman survived.
Sensing he needed a knockout to win Duddy came out swinging in the final round and although he appeared to have won that round it was far too little to late and Chavez Jr was crowned the silver middleweight champion.
In a post fight interview Top Rank promoter Bob Arum paid tribute to the fighting heart of Duddy and said a possible showdown with former light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman at Madison Square Garden could happen later this year while he also mentioned the possibility of Chavez taking on Miguel Cotto in his next fight.
Arum also mentioned that it was pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao who had convinced Chavez to move to the Wild Card Gym under the Roach-Ariza combination and said it resulted in the birth of a new boxing superstar.
Top photo: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (R) tags John Duddy with a right.
Marco Antonio Barrer (R) catches Adailton De Jesus with a right.
Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, looking to win a fourth world title down the road proved he still had the skills and the experience to prevail in a comfortable ten round decision over Brazil?s Adailton De Jesus.
Barrera fought a methodical fight, paced himself well and won on the scorecards of all three judges, 100-90, 98-92 and 99-91.
In a battle of Texas super flyweight Raul ?The Cobra? Martinez (27-1, 16 KOs)whose only lost was an embarrassing 4th round TKO to then IBF/IBO flyweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? proved far too quick and certainly too strong for Gabriel Elizondo (22-4-1, 10 KO?s) who was coming off after a fairly long layoff, stopping him in the 7th round of a junior bantamweight bout.
Martinez dropped Elizondo in the seventh round to force the referee to call a halt after dropping him in the 5th and sending him crashing to the canvas in round six. While Filipino fight fans remembered Donaire?s 4th round TKO over Martinez whom he dropped four times en route to the stoppage not many remember that Elizondo had once beaten Daniel Ponce De Leon in the 1999 Olympic Cup boxing and had lost to Filipino Olympic bronze medalist Roel Velasco in the Ali Cup in 1997. Velasco is now a top trainer of the Philippine Amateur Boxing Association.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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