Which weight class would Julio Cesar Chavez have the best chance of defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr?

You can decide.

 

Chavez at 135, especially on the night he battered Edwin Rosario, would have a great chance.

 

Both, then. I think Mayweather is in good stead at WW. He would not be bullied by Chávez anymore than he was by the bulldogish, on-rushing Hatton (not as great a fighter as Chávez, but less shopworn than the latter was at WW). Mayweather was physically able to stand up to Chávez at that weight IMO & if he doesn’t get bullied & tossed about, he’s simply too classy across the board to lose. At any weight, he would score efficiently on Chávez for mine, & he had enough pop to gain the judges’ respect, if not quite Chávez’s.

Mayweather fairly comfortably at WW, perhaps 8-4 or 8-3-1.

Now thinking about it at LW I might be inclined to go the other way. Mayweather had trouble with his hands & though he was always both cocky & studious, I think that little bit of self-doubt still remained around this time. The Castillo fight makes a pretty good analogy (I had it a draw) for Chávez to win. He was very sharp at 135, didn’t have the wear of later years & Mayweather was, oddly enough, more shopworn than he would later be, suffering with bad hands. It’s still a debatable fight here…like I said, at no weight do I think Mayweather has trouble landing on Chávez, & at no weight do I think he has trouble making him miss, but at LW Chávez could afford to miss with the first & second punch because the next five or six were always flowing, & he can have some success overpowering Mayweather at this weight too, hurting Mayweather’s rhythm.

LW, 7-5 Chávez.

 

130-135 pounds.

 

130-135. Floyd had issues with Castillo. Even if we say he was injured, some of those issues showed up in the second fight as well. Floyd won the second fight comfortably but it wasn't like nothing Castillo did in the first fight carried over to the second. I think if Chavez catches Floyd pre Castillo, he has a good chance. Post Castillo I would favor Floyd. I think Floyd learned how to deal with pressure much better after those fights.

 

Yes he'd definitely seen better days when he fought Whitaker.