Juan Carlos Sánchez Jr. vs. César Juárez

This happened last night on beIN SPORTS Español, while everybody was tied up with the Shumenov vs. Flores card on NBC Sports or Kovalev vs. Mohammedi on HBO. All of those people erred, in all likelihood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_EynjLd7pM

Good fight. I have yet to see the main events from NBC Sports or HBO but from the sound of it neither was as entertaining and competitive as this.

Juárez is experiencing quite a resurgence in the last couple of years. At one point he was 13-3 and seemed condemned to obscurity in the ranks of Mexican domestic level journeymen, but dating back to April of 2013 has victories over:

• Frankie Leal (absolute warrior, much better than his record indicates, drew with Miguel Gonzalez and upset Roberto Marroquin, fought in trenches with Gradovich and never quit, had to be stretchered out when stopped after 9.5 grueling rounds, and died tragically following his loss to Raul Hirales)

• Cesar Seda (excellent boxer, whom I once pegged as being a surefire titlist after he gave Narváez some problems at super fly...and I maintain that he could have been, if he didn't skip bantamweight...got out-sized and out-hustled by LSC at super-bantam, though he showed glimpses of flashy skill and befuddled LSC when he did...but his recent SD loss to vastly less experienced Juárez above the limit, technically at featherweight, may be the nail in the coffin...)

• Juan Carlos "Zurdito" Sánchez Jr. (former super fly champ, shocked by Zolani Tete in an eliminator two fights ago but still competitive in that, swapping knockdowns with Tete just as he did with Gallo Estrada in the previous loss that bookends his championship run - and the unheralded Juárez beat him in his own hometown!)

The no-frills 23-year-old - who doesn't even have a ring name - has taken on a tough schedule and by grinding through it, turned his fortunes around. Granted, he only beat Leal & Seda by the skin of his teeth, by majority and split decision respectively, and Zurdito fed him plenty of leather, but Juárez has come a long way since his days as Mexican super flyweight champion, defending against guys with losing records.

He should try and repeat his national title feat at super bantam - which pits him against Genaro Camargo in a virtually guaranteed all-Mexican FOTY candidate. I don't think he's destined for much higher a tier beyond that, but he is definitely separating himself from the pack domestically and maturing into a lot more than "just a journeyman".

As for Lefty Sánchez Jr.'s future...well...it has undoubtedly dimmed a bit, now. This was only the 2nd leg of his comeback after Tete stopped him, and he's now 1-2 in his last three..

 

I haven't seen Pascal vs. González (plan to) but anyone calling it the FOTW ought to check out this one before making that call.

 

If anything, Juárez may have received unfair scoring in how close it was. Take away the point deduction from Sánchez Jr. and it becomes too close for comfort.

Juárez deserves a lot of credit for putting it on Sánchez Jr. like he did and besting him clearly in his own backyard, too clearly to get robbed.

I especially like how strong Juárez finished down the stretch. Zurdito was in dire straights at times, like the end of the eleventh and then again in the final minute when he was ejected from the ring on a combination of head shots, Maskaev vs. Rahman style, and only barely climbed back in to beat the count, saved by the final bell moments later...)

Julio César Chávez and Eduardo Lamazón (the unofficial scorer for Box Azteca, the Mexican version of Harold Lederman basically...not a former judge but a knowledgeable lifelong historian penning three books and over 7k articles on boxing) both appreciated Juárez's dogged hard-nosed efforts and display of sheer will as well.

Lamazón had Juárez up much wider than any of the official judges, at 117-109. That seems the more correct score to me.

 

Chávez and Lamazón don't always necessarily agree, either.

When they both commentated the Chávez Jr. fight, Lamazón (who is Argentinian but an embedded fixture and well respected in the Mexican boxing community) basically called the son of the legend out for under-preparing and said he got his ass kicked, which Sr. didn't like one bit.

So for both to concur that an off the beaten path guy essentially filling the role of "TBA" deserved a wide decision over a name fighter with home ring advantage (not to mention, Sinaloa is also the home state of the Chávez family!) is telling.

 

On the González vs. Russell Jr. & Charlo vs. Martirosyan undercard, right? That was a night of upsets. Elvin Ayala took Ronald Gavril's zero, too.

 

Video of Juárez vs. Seda is pretty hard to find.

 

Anybody watched this all the way through yet? Anybody come up with a score closer to what the judges had (or for Sánchez :blood) or am I right that Lamazón more or less nailed it?

 

Very lucky (but still quasi-educated) stab in the dark, then. :good Even with having defeated Leal and Seda (albeit via close decisions), Juárez came into this a huge underdog and was "supposed" to lose.

 

The fight is embedded in the OP if you want to check it out.