Julio Cesar Chavez Jr 'takes full responsibility' for drug test failure

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr says he "takes full responsibility" for failing his Nevada drug test this past weekend. The fighter, who lost to Sergio Martinez on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, had a press statement released:

"Any explanation or justification that I can attempt to provide about the recent developments will not be enough or not convincing, so I want to make it known to everyone that I take full responsibility for my actions and the consequences thereof."

"I want to apologize to all of those who are disappointed or aggrieved by my behavior. Only I know the cause [of the failed test] and only I will take responsibility. In contrast, I can say that I will emerge stronger from these events and I will vindicate my image in society."

The statement goes on to talk about a rematch with Martinez, as well as creating "the new" Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and a new image.

You have to forgive me if I don't take press statements all that seriously, but as they go, this was the right one. Jose Sulaiman and Fernando Beltran already rushed to his aid with weak excuses and complaints, and it seems that at least someone on Chavez Jr's team is telling him that he has to man up with this one. His image has already been damaged by the test, and nobody's going to buy an excuse.

It's time for him to change, if he's going to win the respect of boxing fans and a lot of the media. I hope he does -- it's not like I have any reason to actually root against him, but it's been years of him being pampered and basically doing whatever he wants. And as I've said before, I don't actually have a big problem with that, because it's not like he's the world's first person or even name boxer to have it that way, but it makes it hard to take him seriously.

If he can change, then great. He may not be the most talented guy in the world, but he's got guts in the ring, and that can go a long way.