Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. defeated Sebastian Zbik by a twelve round majority decision on Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. From the opening bell, Zbik was in command by working the inside but it was Chavez’s reach and body work that gave him the edge. Two judges scored the fight for Chavez, 115-113 and 116-112 while the third saw it a draw.
With 43 fights on his resume, this was Chavez Jr. first world title fight and a successful one at that, winning his first title in the same town that his father won his first in 1984 when Chavez Sr. beat Mario Martinez to win the WBC junior lightweight title.
Without a doubt this was Chavez Jr. toughest fight ever and holding the WBC belt is only going to get worse for the 25 year-old kid from Culiacan, MX, meaning no more cherry picking.
As of now, Marco Antonio Rubio (51-5-1, 44 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for the new WBC titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Rubio scored a third round KO over Ricardo Marcelo on the same night Chavez was crowned. Rubio is also coming off a sensational seventh-round upset via TKO over previously undefeated David Lemieux.
If Rubio isn’t a threat then Sergio Martinez and Miguel Cotto, who both where in attendance are. Bob Arum, Chavez promoter, told the media after the fight that Sergio Martinez isn’t a pay-per-view fighter and facing Chavez is unlikely but Cotto and Margarito are. Arum even showed interest in Chavez defending against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Many media members feel Chavez didn’t do enough to win considering Chavez threw a total of 1,630 punches but only connecting a miserable 256 (32%) and 242 power punches according to Compu box. Zbik threw a total of 834 punches, connecting with 391 (47%) and 623 power punches connecting with 335 (54%).
After the fight, Chavez stated his willing to fight anyone if the money is right. Chavez made $600,000 while Zbik took home $295,000. There’s no question Chavez will now make a lot more but the real question is for how long will Chavez remain a champion?
Chavez is now playing with the big boys and not even the World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman will be able to help him.
Do you think Chavez Jr. could beat Cotto, “Canelo” or Martinez?
I was only impressed only by Chaves’s ability of taking punches .seriously he took many blows to the head and did not flinch as if he has a metal skull .
He needs a lot of improvement and the acquisition of defensive skills .I think he lost the fight emphatically .
Did Arum fall on his head when he was a fat kid ?
WTF .MARTINEZ is not a draw .give me a gargantun break !!!!!
The problem with Chavez is that he is now holding belt everyone wants and in a division where almost every boxer will kill him.
Paul Williams
Felix Sturm
Miguel Cotto
Antonio Margarito
Saul Alvarez
Sergio Martinez
Kermit Cintron
Alfredo Angulo
Vanes Martirosyan
Pawel Wolak
Marco Antonio Rubio
I honestly think he can’t beat anyone above and sooner or later he has to fight one of them.
COMPU BOX CAN PUT THERE STATS WHERE THE SUN DONT SHINE. THEY SAID ZBIK LANDED OVER 300 POWER PUNCHES IN THE FIGHT. IF YOU WERE WATCHING A GIRLS SLAP FIGHT I WOULD AGREE, BUT IT WAS A BOXING MATCH. CHAVEZ WON THE FIGHT BECAUSE HE HIT WITH MORE POWER, ESPECIALLY TO THE BODY. I DONT THINK ZBIK COULD KNOCK OUT A WOMAN BOXER. CRISTY MARTIN HAS MORE POWER THAN ZBIK.KNOW IF CHAVEZ WOULD FIGHT CANELO, COTTO, OR MARTINEZ HE WOULD GET AN ASS WHIPPING. THATS WHY HE PROBABLY WILL FIGHT SOME OTHER EURO-HYPED BS BOXER.
I agree I think Chavez lost this fight. I can’t stand Arum, always falls back on “he’s not a draw” he knows Martinez would whoop Jr. ass and destroy him inside of 2 rounds. Was Clottey a draw? No but he got a ppv fight.Cotto or Margarito will beat his ass anyway so I’d look forward to that and I think Rubio has a good chance at beating him too. I won’t waste my money on him trying to sell us Chavez’s next fight as a ppv unless it’s gonna be a somebody so we can see him get exposed.
Nice gritty effort by Chavez, only problem being that he was in with “another” hand picked opponent, a good fighter, but one that can’t crack an egg, and with Chavez’s defense if he “ever” faced a fighter like Sergio Martinez he’d get beaten-up. And it’s already began, Bob Arum with “Sergio Martinez isn’t a pay-per-view fighter”, nice try Arum, you’re a joke as usual, but then again Arum is just speaking for all the Chavez contingent, they know full-well what they have. What they have is a kid that will always live in his great fighting fathers name, and they’ll get all the money they can off that fact while then can. I’ve always felt a little bad for the son’s of great athletes, dedicated as they may be, how many ever can live-up those past expectations ? So the fans that remember the great fighting father will cheer and pay to the see the son, and in their hearts they’ll hope he will be just as great and bring back those good-old-days and memories. But with young Chavez it will never happen. I certainly wish the best for Chavez Jr., but boxing fans have to face the fact that he will be protected from certain harm from better caliber fighters, especially one’s that pack-a-good-punch. Personally I will never waste my pay-per-view dollars on a guarded fighter, what’s the point when the outcomes are hardly in doubt ?
I think Zbik won the fight. The compu box proves it. Chavez should now fight true middleweights. Match him against Felix Sturm or even Paul Williams. Why try to match him with jr middleweights such as Cotto or Canelo ??
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