Julio Cesar Chavez Sr vs Brian Mitchell At 130

Mitchell holds his own for the first 5 or 6 rds then Chavez really takes over and wins a clear UD or late stoppage.

 

Chavez in 9

 

There's levels at 130.

Mitchell was very good, but not even on Nelson's level. Not on Camacho's level either.

Then ABOVE Nelson and Camacho you have Floyd, Arguello, and Chavez.

In other words, the poor South African is two levels out of his depth here.

He fights gallantly, but JCC gives him a beating.

 

Chavez UD.

 

Not sure Chavez proved to be on that level at 130. Not above Nelson. He was still progressing early in his reign there. Then, by the time he was reaching his prime, he was starting to have serious difficulties making the 130 pound limit.

He failed to get a stoppage in 3 of his last 4 defenses, with 2 of those (Lockridge and La Porte) being highly competitive affairs. His power couldn’t faze La Porte and he couldn’t match Lockridge’s strength. He then failed to stop the lowly Danilo Cabrera in his last defense at 130, though he dominated the fight.

Then he moved up to Lightweight to face the most dangerous opponent of his career to date. The legendary performance that followed leaves me no doubt as to how much the move rejuvenated him.

 

Nobody fazed Laporte. He was never dropped in his entire career and fought a who's who at 126 and 130.

Cabrera was tough as nails having warred with and lasted into the late rounds against McGuigan and Nelson in previous title tries.

 

True enough on La Porte. His chin was granite. He still ran Chavez closer than he did Sanchez or even a past prime Gomez.

Cabrera got stopped by both of those men you mentioned. In fact, most of his career losses came by stoppage. Chavez was in the minority who couldn’t stop him.

 

I think Mitchell steals a few early rounds but Chavez builds momentum and ends with a flourish. Mitchell lasts the distance but his face is a bit mangled by the end.

 

I agree. Nelson at 130 is right there with Chavez. An on song Nelson was one helluva at 130.

 

That means vertually nothing, Laporte had one of the best chins the sport has ever seen and Lockridge was pretty durable himself.

 

Chavez stops a brave but battered Mitchell on his feet, in around nine rounds.

 

First off, you'd have to favour Chavez on pedigree. The guy has a colossal resume.

That said, this is not as one-sided as people might think. Mitchell typically had problems with the cuties. Forward-coming, aggressive fighters were his bread and butter, the guys he liked to face. He was a very well rounded boxer and often adapted during the fight and finished strong thanks to his excellent conditioning. I think Chavez might have a tougher fight than people think.

 

I'll go with the more proven fighter, by a considerable margin - Julio Cesar Chavez.

 

Ironically, the only fighter to stop Lockridge was Juan Laporte (himself only losing inside the distance once, when he was mid-30s - and that was by way of a corner retirement).