When Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s career seemed to be consolidated with his first world championship in the middleweight division and with three successful defenses, his first defeat came.
After 47 undefeated fights, with a record of 46-0-1, Junior faced one of the best fighters in the division: Sergio Martinez, who dethroned him at the age of 37 by unanimous decision despite going to the canvas in the 12th round.
Sergio Martinez: “Chavez Jr. should have foreseen I was much better”
For that fight, Chavez Jr. was 26 years old and had been world champion for just over a year when he faced his biggest challenge to date. The Argentine, already a veteran and a former world champion, outpointed him 118-109 (x2) and 117-110.
“Chavez is a great guy, he’s a good kid, but yes (I think I ruined his career).On a mental level he was destroyed, unnecessarily because he should have foreseen that I was better than him, much better.
He had to understand that he could lose and then come back to win another world title, but he believed he was going to win all the time, that he was never going to lose.
“The pressure from the father, from all of Mexico. They are a world superpower in boxing. I was told that in all of Mexico it was a wake that night,” the Argentine told an interview.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and the end of his boxing career
From that fight against Martinez, Julio Cesar Chavez’s son went downhill with a 8-6 record, including a loss to Canelo Alvarez, which he lost by unanimous decision.
After three years of inactivity, where he suffered from addiction problems, JC Chavez Jr. returned to the ring in 2024 and defeated Uriah Hall, a former mixed martial arts fighter.
To continue his professional career, the 39-year-old Junior has commented that he would like to face Jake Paul and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, in his aspiration to be world champion again, although now it would be at Cruiserweight.
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