There were nights when the burden of boxing’s most sacred surname lifted and Julio César Chávez Jr. vindicated every ounce of his father’s ringside faith. Those nights began with the coronation, in 2011: twelve punishing rounds at the hands of Sebastian Zbik, ultimately ending in a green WBC strap and an elder Chavez kissing his son’s brow while a packed Los Angeles house roared approval. Months later, the new champion absorbed monster counters from Marco Antonio Rubio in San Antonio, and rebounded to prove the chin and body work were inherited heirlooms.
Momentum culminated in El Paso against sly Irishman Andy Lee. Chávez Jr. marched into a tiny 16-foot ring and was quite literally hypnotized as Lee had an early lead disappear below a torrent of relentless head and body hooks until ref Laurence Cole waved it off in the seventh. Even Chavez Sr., who is naturally stoic, erupted from his seat at ringside as if he was outside the ropes again in his prime.
What everyone remembers of the career came three months later in Las Vegas. Chávez Jr. was completely out-boxed for eleven rounds by Sergio Martínez, when he unleashed two left hooks that dropped the Argentine, and nearly rewrote history like his father had done against Meldrick Taylor. Martínez managed to survive, but for those last three minutes, the son was as deadly as any night in the ring, as he wore down his opponent.
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Let’s go back to 2003 when a baby-faced, 17-year-old, full of excitement and promise, debuted in a Culiacán warehouse against journeyman Jonathan Hernandez. Pressure mixed with opportunity, but the decision victory was the beginning of a career that would end in both glorious world-title achievements, but also frustrating impotence in the public eye. Whatever happens next - including a speculative gimmick against Jake Paul this week - these moments of toughness, excitement and lineage will remain a reminder that on the right night, Julio César Chávez Jr. did enough to make a three-weight immortal smile.
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