Here are a few quick looks at the press conference in San Antonio for the February 4 HBO double-header pitting WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Marco Antonio Rubio in the main event, plus a 122-pound co-feature between Nonito Donaire and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
Marco Antonio Rubio
Chavez (44-0-1, 31 KO) is the big favorite going in, partly because he's just that much more well-known, but Rubio has said he'll be looking for the knockout, and not letting it go to the judges' scorecards. It wasn't that long ago that he did shock a lot of folks with a knockout upset of then-unbeaten David Lemieux, so never say never, I guess.
Nonito Donaire
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr
This is the fight I'm tuning in to see most, even though I have no real issue with the main event. I'm very, very interested to find out what happens when Donaire doesn't totally tower over an opponent. I have no doubt that Nonito Donaire (27-1, 18 KO) is a better fighter than Vazquez (21-1-1, 18 KO), and that talent-wise, he'll be the better man. I'm also pretty certain that he's going to win. But the guys Nonito has been fighting lately have all been about 5'2" or 5'3", though a couple of them are generously listed at 5'4". Donaire has looked like the goddamned Hulk next to these dudes, and though Vazquez is no monster or even a big super bantam, he's definitely bigger than Omar Narvaez or Wladimir Sidorenko.