Was Julio Cesar Chavez "shot" at the time of his 1st fight with De La Hoya?

For starters, he didn't "stop" Randall in a rematch, he won a hotly controversial tecnical decision. The two clashed heads, causing a cut on Chavez's head that caused the fight to be stopped. They went to the scorecards and Chavez came away with a split decision. The ending was controversial because:
1) Randall had a point deducted from him, despite the fact that the butt was ruled accidental, and that was the difference in the outcome.
2) Many people thought Randall should've won regardless.
3) There was some question over whether Chavez really quit, or influenced the doctor into stopping the fight.

Chavez's failure to beat Randall without controversy (or give him a rubber match) made his status as a credible champion very dubious going into the DeLaHoya fight.

As far as his "name" opponents from around this time, Lopez and Taylor were both similarly past their primes (and Lopez was never a jr. welterweight anyway), and Gamache was never considered that good after being exposed by Lopez and Nazarov.

The truth about Chavez at this time (beyond the numbers you listed) is that he had not beaten a top fighter still considered in his prime since Randall fights (and in reality, had not beaten one since beating Taylor several years earlier), and had two credibility-wrecking fights with Randall, who was past his own prime and supposed to be an "easy" fight for Chavez. Also, he had to rally to pull out his fight with David Kamau, and some people still thought he was lucky to get the decision anyway.


Having said all that, was he outright "shot" going into the first DeLaHoya fight? I don't know, but he was pretty damn well close to it IMO.

IMO, the last time Chavez showed his top form was against Camacho in '92. After that was a steady and very traceable decline.

 

You better watch Divac doesn't see that. If he does, expect to be 'crucified'.