Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Andy Lee

This is supposed to be percolating for June 2nd on HBO.

Lee won his tuneup yesterday against Saul "Baby" Duran, who was the fifth opponent brought in after several previous late substitutes were replaced. Duran was very fat, but Lee wasted no time disposing of him on the Kronk Fight Night internet broadcast.

(the many who missed it - due to the concurrent Showtime broadcast or just not being aware that Kronk was airing it - can read all about it here...)
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386987

Lee seemed to have retained - even improved upon - his form from the Vera rematch. He's becoming very clearly branded as an Emanuel Steward man - utilizing his length as a prime asset, working behind long jabs and looking to deal damage with the 1-2. He also shipped quite few missiles to the body from the outset, and that was ultimately the key to victory.

All of that could be significant against JCC Jr., who usually enjoys a size advantage over his opponents. Chavez hasn't been in with anyone standing taller than his six feet in several years. Chavez also usually tries to monopolize the body punching in any given match.

Chavez stands six foot with 73" branches. Lee has 2" of height and 5" of reach on him.

Then again, Chavez is much stronger and more powerful with a meaner streak than the one man to date to ever defeat Lee (Bryan Vera) - and as much as Lee has been improving by leaps and strides under Steward, so has Chavez under Roach.

:think

 

Have you seen them lately? :blood

Chavez regressed somewhat against Zbik (or just ran into a bad style, depending on what you took away from it) but he's 10x better now than he was before setting foot in Wild Card. Before that, he was a joke living off his family name headlining PPV's and bilking the loyal Mexican fans out of their money as a blight upon the sport.

Now he's actually a legitimate world level middleweight.

Lee's Kronk makeover has been even more of a beneficial transformation than Julio's Wild Card treatment, and he's patched up most of the holes that had people questioning his ability to rise to the top. Just like Wladimir Klitschko, he has been able to figure out how to use his physical attributes to prevent his chin & his proclivity toward panic from ever becoming issues.

Neither is a top three h2h middleweight or anything, and both would lose handily to Maravilla or ГГГ or maybe even Pirog/Proksa/Geale - but they're right up there behind those guys. Neither is terrible - at least not anymore. Thanks to their coaches and their own hard toil.

 

June will be massive for boxing.

6/1 - Julio vs. Rosado

6/2 - Chavez vs. Lee

6/9 - Pacquiao vs. Bradley

6/16 - NBC Sports Fight Night (no venue or participants named yet, but NBC Sports has been so far so good)

6/23 - Ortiz vs. Berto II