Chavez Jr. vs Martinez
A deal was reached for Julio Cesar Chavez
Jr. and Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO) to fight on 15 September 2012,
at the Thomas & Mack center in Las Vegas for the Unified WBC and
The Ring Middleweight Championship.
Martinez outworked and out-landed
Chavez throughout the first 11 rounds of the fight in dominating fashion.
Though Chavez had his moments, trapping Martinez in the corner on
the ropes, Martinez fought Chavez and used his fast lateral movement
to avoid and neutralize Chavez's offensive attack. After 11 dominant
rounds from Martinez, Chavez hurt Martinez in the twelfth round, sending
him to the canvas halfway through the round. Martinez got up with
a little over one minute left in the fight and continued to throw
and trade with the Mexican champion, despite being fatigued and clearly
hurt. Martinez managed to survive the 12th round. Martinez won the
fight by unanimous decision, by the scores of 117-110, 118-109 and
118-109. It was later revealed that Martinez had fought with a broken
left hand since the fourth round. A total of 16,939 tickets were sold
to generate a live gate of $3,052, 475. HBO reported the fight generated
475,000 pay-per-view buys and close to $25 million in revenue. Chavez
Jr. received a purse of $3 million, compared to Martinez's $1.4 million.
After
the fight, Chavez tested positive for cannabis. On 28 February 2013,
the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for nine months
and fined him $900,000. Chavez had been already fined $20,000 and
suspended indefinitely by the World Boxing Council.
Light heavyweight
Chavez
Jr. vs Vera I
After a year of suspension, Chavez faced Brian Vera on
28 September 2013 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Chavez
struggled with the weight, before the fight weighed in at 172 pounds
for a fight contracted in 168 pounds. The night of the fight he weighed
186 pounds. Like the fight against Martinez, Chavez threw very few
power punches while Vera dominated the fight. In the late rounds,
although Chavez landed the harder punches throughout the fight. Chavez
won a controversial unanimous decision. He threw 320 punches, while
Vera threw 734. the decision was heavily criticized by the audience.
After the fight, Chavez stated that he fought with an injured hand.
Super
middleweight
Chavez Jr. vs Vera II
A rematch was held on 1 March 2014,
at the Alamodome of San Antonio, Texas. Contrary to what happened
in the first fight, Chavez came out more aggressive and proposed the
fight. He kept the distance with the jab and landed power punches.
In the eleventh round he landed a powerful right hand that nearly
knocked Vera out. Chavez won via unanimous decision claiming the vacant
WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title.
Return to
light heavyweight
Chavez Jr. vs Fonfara
After a long break from boxing,
Chavez Jr. decided to face Andrzej Fonfara, a bout in which Chavez
was dominated and dropped by a left hook to the forehead in the 9th
round. The fight took place on 18 April 2015 at the StubHub Center,
Carson, California. Before the 10th round begun Chavez told his corner
"Stop the fight" making it his first TKO in his career. After the
fight Chavez said "Yes, I think I won the fight". Some words were
lost in translation; he meant to say he felt he was winning the fight
at early stages of the bout. Chavez was behind in all three judges
score cards at the time of the stoppage.