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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr won't be able to truly erase his robbery win over Bryan Vera last September when it comes to nerds like me and maybe you, but tonight he scored a convincing and entertaining victory over Vera in the rematch in San Antonio, which should go a long way to at least covering up the struggle of their first bout.
Vera (23-8, 14 KO) was as game as ever, and took some really big shots from Chavez (48-1-1, 32 KO) over the course of tonight's fight, always moving forward in his normal style, but this time around, Chavez was in better shape and able to keep a much crisper pace. He was clearly quicker out of the gates this time, and didn't fade much more than any fighter might over 12 rounds with this kind of two-way action.
Scores for the fight were 117-110, 117-110, and 114-113, with Vera deducted a point along the way, which ultimately didn't matter, but it was a point that didn't need to be taken by referee Rafael Ramos. BLH had it 115-112 for Chavez.
After the fight, Chavez told HBO and Max Kellerman that he wants to face Gennady Golovkin, who is currently on hiatus from the sport following the passing of his father, but that was just found out today. Golovkin has canceled his April 26 date with HBO.
Vera, for his end, didn't contest the scores, but said Chavez was "the same fighter," and also stated that he did not know until a few days ago that it was a 12-round fight, and thus he prepared for a 10-round fight. "It's always something when we come in here for these fuckin' fights," Vera said.
The announced attendance for tonight's event was just over 7,000 at the Alamodome. Not a big crowd by any means, and there could still be some concern that Chavez's star isn't what it was before the Martinez loss, and that it won't get back to that level again barring a legitimate big win.
How did you score the fight tonight? Has Chavez won you back to the dark side of thinking he can be an elite fighter?