Chris John pulls out of rematch with Rocky Juarez

by Scott Christ on Jun 22, 2009 7:10 AM EDT in Boxing News Analysis

Though Chris John (right) has postponed a rematch with Rocky Juarez (left), Juarez will still look to fight on June 27. (via image.examiner.com)

Saturday night's HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader just got a little less enticing. WBA featherweight titlist Chris John (42-0-2, 22 KO) has pulled out of his rematch with Rocky Juarez (28-4, 20 KO) after feeling ill and fatigued. John had blood tests done, and the tests revealed some irregularities, according to BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno.

It's a big hit, obviously, to what was a really good-looking B.A.D. card. The first John-Juarez fight in February surpassed everyone's expectations as far as being an exciting, dramatic contest, overshadowed minutes after it concluded by the main eventing Marquez-Diaz war in Houston. Paired with a promising slugfest-in-the-making between Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana, HBO had quite the gem lined up for Saturday.

Juarez is looking to stay on the card, and HBO wants him there, but finding an opponent on five days' notice is not going to be easy. Juarez would probably fight at either 126 or 130 (or a catchweight in between) and has never lacked for guts in taking good opponents. The problem is simply timing, lack of names at either weight, and the fact that HBO wants it to be a "suitable" opponent. Then again, HBO accepted Cosme Rivera on short notice for Alfredo Angulo recently, so if there's a journeyman with a decent record available, Juarez could fight on, with TV coverage. Guys like that have nothing to lose taking this fight.

You might recall that John had some issues before the first fight with Juarez, too, as sources then said he'd been ill and they were worried about his ability to make weight. He wound up making the limit and putting on a good fight. I worried then that if he pulled out even with legit reasons, he'd get bashed by a lot of folks who had been calling out his fluffed-up record for years, but after coming to the States and impressing in February, I think he'll get a little more slack this time than he theoretically would have last time around. It's stil disappointing, but these things happen.

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A Shame

I thought John had won the first fight by a decent margin, and was hoping he could make up for it this time around. If he ever wants to have any kind of profile in the US, he needs fights like this to make it happen.

by The Boxer Rebellion on Jun 22, 2009 9:40 AM EDT reply actions

Man, the rest of the summer’s gonna be a drag with all the interesting fights getting scrapped.

by keyz on Jun 22, 2009 2:28 PM EDT reply actions

yeah

I mean there is not one true blockbuster summer fight, and there aren’t even many that are truly big. The most important fight through August is Bradley-Campbell.

Bad Left Hook
Camden Chat

by Scott Christ on Jun 22, 2009 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions

BLH newbie

Very unfortunate about John pulling out of the fight. Hopefully whatever problems were found in his blood tests turn out to be minor and can be treated with medication. I would hate to see his career cut short, especially after such a well received fight with Juarez.

Also, any potential names out there yet that would be willing to fight Juarez on short notice?

by J Trull on Jun 22, 2009 5:12 PM EDT reply actions

Welcome!

I can’t think of too many, at least not that HBO would want to air.

Daud Yordan also has a fight scheduled for that night, but I think that one’s on Indonesian TV, so he might suffer a bit of backlash if he pulls out of that fight this late. Also, that’s a really long way to haul ass for a fight on short notice, and he’d probably still be jet lagged when the fight were to happen.

Jorge Linares fights Josafat Perez on that night. There’s also somewhat of a TV issue there though, and I don’t know if the WBA would sanction the fight on such short notice. Plus, Linares is at 130 now, and Juarez is much better at 126. It would take a lot of moving parts to get that one to work, so it seems unlikely.

Willie Kickett is on the undercard fighting a prospect, but he’s only training for an 8-round fight, so who knows.

Mario Santiago is fighting on the untelevised portion of the Top Rank card, but God forbid Bob Arum actually do something to help salvage a Golden Boy card.

Mike Oliver is fighting on a card in Boston, but he’s coming off two consecutive losses and usually fights at 122.

I’m guessing they’ll just pull a rugged Mexican journeyman who hasn’t trained out of nowhere.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jun 22, 2009 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

But Daud would be the most ideal

He got gipped out of showing his stuff against Guerrero, plus he’s co-promoted by Golden Boy, plus he’s also Indonesian, so the Indonesian fans who bought tickets to see John would still get to see one of their countrymen. If I were Daud though, I wouldn’t take the fight. Just too far to fly, his body won’t have time to adjust.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jun 22, 2009 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for the greeting

Out of the names you mentioned, Yordan’s name seems to carry the most intrigue. He looked good for the short amount of time he was in with Guerrero, although I’d consider Juarez to be more difficult for him. I actually think Daud should take the fight if offered, simply because of there being so much to gain. If he beats Juarez, that’s a huge jolt for career…if he loses, he has the fallback excuse of having taken the fight on short notice.

In regards to John though, I read somewhere that he actually passed out during a sparring session, which led to the blood tests. This is what has me concerned about his health, both in and out of the ring. Good luck to him.

by J Trull on Jun 22, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions