A deeper dive on Julio Cesar Chavez's greatness.

Julio Cesar Chavez is arguably the greatest Mexican fighter to ever live, so I think it's suffice to say that his career warrants an analysis. So let's just do this.

Chavez originally started Boxing for similar reasons as Roberto Duran, to win prize money and free his family from daily struggles of survival. He did have an amateur career, but it was incredibly brief, thus he took his time learning his trade against other Mexican fighters when he turned professional. He had 43 wins against incredibly weak opposition, including one over Miguel Ruiz, in which Chavez had originally lost due to an unjust disqualification, which was later oveturned, turning his loss to a KO win. Chavez would then proceed to win the vacant WBC Junior Lightweight title, by defeating his fellow Mexican countryman Mario Martinez, who had previously defeated the former WBC champion, the #5 rated Rolando Navarrete, prior to losing to Chavez.

He would then proceed to defend his title against the #9 rated Featherweight, Ruben Castillo, who would be stopped in the 6th. Then, his next defence would be against the #2 rated Junior Lightweight, Roger Mayweather, who wouldn't hear the bell for a 3rd round. After a few defenses, including one against the former top 10 contender Refugio Rojas, he would defeat the #2 rated Junior Lightweight, and former WBA champion, Rocky Lickridge, in a fight where Chavez showcased how great a Boxer he really was. Right after, he would gain a win over the former WBC Featherweight champion, and #3 rated Junior Lightweight, Juan Laporte, who would give a very good account of himself.

His reign would continue with wins over fringe contender Francisso Tomas Da Cruz and the tough Danilo Cabrera. Then, Chavez would stop the #1 rated Lightweight, the former WBC champion and current WBA champion Edwin Rosario, who would fall in 11. His Lightweight reign would start with a win over the undefeated Rodolfo Aguillar, the former WBC Junior Lightweight champion, Rafael Limon, and would conclude with his victory over the #3 rated Lightweight, and WBC champion, Jose Luis Ramirez. It was a somewhat controversial ending, with Chavez winning due to a TD when they clashed heads, and Ramirez then accused Chavez of doing it deliberately and claimed he was still ahead, despite all the judges having Chavez ahead.

Chavez would then rematch the now #6 rated Welterweight and WBC Light Welterweight champion, Roger Mayweather, who wouldn't continue after the 10th round, claiming he had stomach cramps, making Chavez a 3 division title holder. The #9 rated Junior Welterweight, Sammy Fuentas, would also retire in the 10th round against Chavez. The undefeated 44-0 Alberto Cortes would be stopped in only 3 rounds. Then, he would have arguably his most famous bout, against the #2 rated Junior Welterweight, the IBF Junior Lightweight champion, Meldrick Taylor. Taylor would showcase wonderful speed, elusiveness and ring generalship in this fight, arguably winning every round until the championship rounds, where Chavez would start connecting more efficiently, his punches were starting to take their toll on Taylor, who was only a mere 2 seconds away from victory when Chavez dropped him, and his failure in responding to the referee's calls would cost him the fight.

After defending his title against the 29-1 Kyung Duk Ahn, whom he would stop in 3 mere rounds, he would also defeat the #9 rated Junior Lightweight John Duplessis, in 4 rounds. He would practically win every round against the #10 rated Welterweight, Lonnie Smith, and would knock out the future Fedecentro WBA Light Welterweight champion, Juan Soberanes Ramos, in 4 rounds. Formerly #10 rated Angel Hernandez would go 5, and the #6 rated Hector Camacho, a future multi-division champion, would barely win a round. The former IBF lightweight champion, and #9 rated Junior Welterweight, Greg Haugen, wouldn't go past the 5th. The #3 rated Junior Welterweight, Terrence Ali, would only last a single round more, falling in the 6th.

Then, he would have a controversial draw against a fellow P4P ATG, Pernell Whitaker, who was the WBC Welterweight champion and the #1 rated Welterweght. Whitaker boxed beautifuly, showcased a masterful use of the jab, showed his underrated in-fighting skills against Chavez, and won the fight according to almost everyone who witnessed it. But, unfortunately for Whitaker, the judges declared the verdict as a draw.

After stopping the 21-0 Andy Holligan in 5 rounds, Chavez would lose for the first time in his career after 89 fights, brining his legendary winning streak to an end, at the hands of Frankie Randall, who would strip him of his WBC title. Chavez went down for the first time in his career in the 11th, and suffered 2 point deductions for low blows, thus making him lose a fight he could have otherwise won. The rematch was concluded in controversial fashion, with Chavez getting cut after a clash of heads, and he claimed that he was unable to continue, thus making him win by TD, after Randall was penalized a point for the accidental headbutt, this single point turned the fight from a draw to a win in Chavez's favor. It's safe to say, his once legendary status had heavily fallen by this point. A dubious draw against Whitaker, a loss to Randall, and a sorry win in the rematch, all in less than a year.

Chavez, of course, wanted to reclaim his honor, and the first step towards that goal was defeating the man that made him look the most vulnerable during his prime, Meldrick Taylor. In contrast to the first fight, where Chavez barely squeezed out a victory, here he dominated Taylor, and stopped him in 8 rounds. He would then stop the former 2 division champion, and #9 rated Junior Welterweight, Tony Lopez, in 10 rounds. 1988 Olympic gold medalist, and #7 rated Junior Welterweight, Giovanni Parisi, would lose every round. The #6 rated Junior Welterweight, the 26-0 David Kamau, would also fall short of defeating the declined Chavez. He also defeated the unremarkable Scott Walker, who had recently beaten an incredibly shot Arguello who had made a small comeback after years of retirement.

Then, he would have his fight against the golden boy, Oscar De La Hoya, the first man to become a title holder in 6 different divisions. Unfortunately for Chavez, a cut would open over his left eye, and he would quickly become a bloody mess, the doctor would claim he wasn't longer viable to continue, and the fight was stopped in the 4th. Chavez would then defeat the former WBA Lightweight champion, Joey Gamache, in 8 rounds, and the NABF Welterweight title holder, Tony Martin. He would then proceed to have a draw against the #4 rated Junior Welterweight, and former WBC Lightweight champion, Miguel Angel Gonzalez. Unlike the Whitaker case though, it was clear that Gonzalez did not legitimately defeat the now clearly aging Chavez.

In his rematch against Oscar De La Hoya, he would clearly perform better than the first time, but that did not prevent the inevitable, and thus Chavez would not continue after the 8th round. He then lost in an upset loss against Willy Wise, and then to the #2 rated Junior Welterweight, the WBC champ, Kostya Tzyu. He would manage to at least defeat Willy Wise by a second round stoppage, and finally defeat Frankie Randall by means of a legitimate decision this time. And in his last fight against Grover Wiley, a busted hand would make him retire permanently after quitting on his stool after the 5th. A sad ending to a great career.

 

I wouldn't say Whitaker was at his best either, to be honest. He was at his best as a Lightweight, but here he was as a Welterweight, and his very best performances were a few years behind him too. Although he probably did have a slight age advantage and less wear and tear. Would have been interesting to have seen them fight in 1990, after Chavez had defeated Taylor.

 

I really don't get how you think Chavez was winning the fight until the stoppage. Getting a few decent shots in while being outworked and outlanded to such a degree until the last 2-3 rounds, when Chavez did genuinely start harming him badly, resulting in accumulative damage, is not winning the fight by points. Granted, it's been a few months since I've last watched it, so maybe I'm missing something, but I vividly remember not even bothering to score it until the very end due to just how ahead Taylor was in my scorecard.

 

Pro fights should be scored with factors such as effective agression, defense, clean punching and ring generalship in mind. Damage is obviously important, but fights are scored round by round. If a guy's accumulative damage ends up wearing him down in the end, it doesn't mean he was losing rounds he was dominating, that's ridiculous. That's just how scoring works, even if it is flawed. Neither you nor I have any say in the matter, nor does anybody else. But I'm in the mood, I'll watch it muted and see if Lampley's commentary was such a big factor.

Round 1 : Both of them initially boxing from a distance, Chavez is practically not throwing anything while Taylor throws measuring jabs, both of them are defensively responsible when the other one commits to their offense. They go into a jabbing contest but they're evenly matched. Chavez lands only a handful of blows here and there, but they're not meaningful, Taylor manages to out land Chavez on the inside with uppercuts and body shots, not anything that really troubles Chavez, but it's more than enough to win the round. Taylor 10-9

Round 2 : Taylor starts out with a combination that is mostly negated by Chavez, Chavez misses a huge right hand, both of them very defensively responsible. Chavez lands some shots on the inside but not anything too hurtful, same applies to Taylor, both land some solid jabs here and there, and both do a good job negating each other's punches on the inside. Chavez manages to land some good right hands at the end though and allegedly breaks Taylor's cheekbone. 10-9 Chavez.

Round 3 : Taylor is throwing jabs and leads while Chavez is blocking and evading them coming in, Taylor slips when he loses his balance due to this. Taylor throws a good combination with most shots landing, and angles out of the way. Both go on the inside, and Taylor lands a hook on Chavez's head, then both land some shots on the inside. This goes on for a while with both being evenly matched, Chavez lands a good right hand and both go on the inside again, Taylor throws a lot of leather, some of it getting blocked, but a fair few of them get in, Chavez barely throws anything there, and when he does, it's not effective. Taylor 10-9

Round 4 : Both of them throwing but literally not landing anything, Taylor especially missed some good right hands and a blindingly fast flurry, incredible defense on their behalf. Chavez maneuvers Taylor to the ropes, misses a right hand, and tries to shove Taylor to the ropes, Barrera-Hamed style. Both of them again fighting on the inside, with most of their shots mostly negated by the other, Chavez may have had a slight advantage here. Taylor lands the best right hand he has thrown so far and even manages to momentarely puzzle Chavez, Chavez tries to go on the inside but gets hit with a handful of shots before Taylor moves away. Chavez lands a very hard and stiff jab, and both go on the inside again, Chavez lands some, but Taylor throws and lands more. Taylor 10-9

Round 5 : This entire round is exclusively on the inside. Taylor just throws and lands way more than Chavez does, Chavez lands some shots, but they're not too hard, except for one legitimately harmful hook on Taylor's face. But it far from compensates for getting so outworked and outfought for an entire round. Taylor then succesfuly lands 3 consecutive shots on Chavez's face, as well as a good right uppercut and some good body shots. Clearest round so far. Taylor 10-9

Round 6 : Relatively uneventful, both throwing and evading what the other throws. Taylor has some moments on the inside, and tries to do a bolo but Chavez easily evades it. Taylor has a slight advantage at close range, Chavez lands a good right hand. Chavez not landing much after that and Taylor is far busier. Taylor 10-9.

Round 7 : Chavez inititally being the effective aggressor, but not landing anything but a handful of glancing blows. Taylor catches Chavez with a hook while he was moving away. Both go on the inside again and Taylor has the advantage, with him landing some cuffing body shots, uppercuts and a decent left hook, while Chavez is only capable of throwing cuffing shots, and they're less frequent than Taylor's, clearly not being able to get good leverage. Both are more or less even on the inside for the most part after this, with Taylor being busier and more defensively responsible, chancing head slots and positioning himself better, with Chavez probably landing the fewer but harder shots. Really difficult to tell how hard they are without sound though. Taylor clearly has the advantage in the last half minute though, landing 4-5 clean punches for every one of Chavez's. Taylor 10-9

Round 8 : Both of them are even at middle range, both of them landing some good jabs. Taylor lands a good right hand and has a decent follow through after that. Chavez is starting to drop his hands, showing how it doesn't bother him too much. Chavez manages to land a few decent shots but it's as if he deliberately holds himself back to commit to his offense later. Taylor lands more and cleaner as well, but he is starting to be more choppy with his blows, and is clearly affected by the high pace of the fight and Chavez's shots all throughout the fight. Taylor won the round but Chavez seems the fresher of the 2. Taylor 10-9

Round 9 : Taylor throws a wide haymaker right hand but Chavez blocks it. Taylor seems to know he doesn't have much left, so he explodes and gives it everything he has, throwing everything into his shots, resulting in blinding fast combination punches that effectively hit Chavez. Both go on the inside again and Chavez initially has the advantage, throwing some obviously hard shots that bother Taylor, who throws and lands more later on, but his shots clearly aren't as hard as Chavez's. Taylor throws a good flurry that seems to bother Chavez. Taylor gets a warning for his low blows, but manages to land some very good shots before the round ends. Taylor 10-9, close. Could go to Chavez.

Round 10 : Taylor quickly starts with an uppercut-left hook combination that lands cleanly. Chavez lands a decent right uppercut and a right straight. Taylor throws a 3 punch combination that sends Chavez's head flying. Chavez comes back with 2 cuffing punches. Taylor comes back himself with a flurry that seems to go on forever, a good amount of the shots initially landing, before Chavez steps back and flashily defends, avoiding a dozen punches in a row. Both go on the inside, and Chavez has the advantage, landing just as much if not more, but with obviously harder punches. Taylor is clearly exhausted, he lands shots but Chavez barely feels them, if at all, at times he doesn't even bother defending. Taylor is a bloody mess, he outlands Chavez but by no means is he effectively keeping him away. Chavez lands some heavy power punches that hurt Taylor. Props to Taylor for still going at him. Chavez 10-9. Best round of the fight.

Round 11 : Taylor is landing many punches. Chavez at times doesn't even seem to bother defending. Don't know if it's because the punches don't bother him or if he has simply forgotten how to, the lack of sound doesn't help. Taylor is just winning almost every exchange throughout the entire round, he doesn't let Chavez dictate the pace and pick his shots. Chavez is nowhere near as effective as the last round even if he is throwing and landing punches. Taylor 10-9

So yeah. I scored it 9-2 Taylor when it was muted, best I could see it is 8-3 if you give Chavez the 11th out of pity, the commentary was irrelevant. Quite frankly, I cannot see how one could possibly score for Chavez, it's a huge stretch. The fight was not close prior to the stoppage, I don't care if some magazines said otherwise, I trust my eyes far more.