JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ Jr. vs PETER MANFREDO Jr.

Probably no one outside his own family believes that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is the best middleweight in the world even though he is the WBC champion, but the son of perhaps Mexico’s greatest fighter always provides good entertainment. So, with that in mind, I’m looking forward to Chavez’s title defence against Peter Manfredo Jr. in Houston, TX on Saturday night (HBO Boxing After Dark).
 
This bout is what the boxing fraternity calls a “fun fight” although I sometimes wonder if it’s as much fun for the contestants as for the spectators — observers don’t have to take the punches.
 
Chavez, 25, is a massive favourite in the betting. He is the house fighter on the Top Rank promotion and the huge Mexican contingent in the crowd will be right behind him.
 
Manfredo, though, has the experience and the ability to test Chavez. At the age of 30, Manfredo admits he does not plan to box much longer. The family man from Providence, RI, sees this fight as a great opportunity, though. He says he has trained well and is coming to win. Although Manfredo has lost six fights he points out that his only stoppage losses were when he was boxing as a 168-pounder — he simply couldn’t cope with Joe Calzaghe and Sakio Bika, each of whom overwhelmed him in three rounds.  
 
Certainly Saturday’s bout isn’t anywhere near as daunting a prospect for Manfredo as taking on the much bigger, elite-level Calzaghe across the pond in Wales. Manfredo is likely to go into this fight with confidence. Chavez, though, seems to be ready for a stiff challenge.
 
Chavez showed grit and came on strongly with late-rounds pressure when he wore down and outpointed Germany’s Sebastian Zbik to win the title in June. Outboxed and caught all too easily in the early rounds, Chavez kept pushing forward and at times was almost bending Zbik in half with body punches. Zbik’s busy punching made the fight close (one judge had it a draw), but I had no doubt that Chavez won.   
 
Chavez’s dedication has been doubted, but I gather that he has been earnest about his career since hooking up with ace trainer Freddie Roach and strength and fitness coach Alex Ariza. Chavez told the media in Houston that he expects a very tough fight on Saturday but promised he will bring everything he has into the ring. “I want to show everyone what I’m capable of,” Chavez said. “I’ve got to show everybody that I’ve improved.”
 
Manfredo says he respects Chavez and is grateful for the opportunity but believes that the young Mexican fighter is “very beatable”. Unfortunately for Manfredo, though, he has come up short in his previous biggest fights — against Calzaghe, Bika and Jeff Lacy. It could be a case of so near yet so far on Saturday night.
 
Chavez hasn’t stopped anyone since September 2009 and another long night seems to be ahead of him, because even though Manfredo isn’t exactly a revitalised fighter he is in good form with six consecutive wins. In his last fight, in January, Manfredo overcame a slow start to win widely on points against Daniel Edouard, knocking down the game veteran with a big right hand in the fourth round.
 
Manfredo and Chavez have a common opponent in Matt Vanda, each winning comfortably on points against the durable trial horse (although Chavez struggled in a prior meeting with Vanda, when the Mexican fighter was not in optimum condition). Despite the wide odds I’m not sure there is all that much difference in ability between Chavez and Manfredo. However, Chavez is the younger man and still could be considered on the way up, whereas one feels that Manfredo reached his level some time ago. Although Manfredo beat up Edouard, he seemed to be fighting in spurts; Chavez could prove to be the more insistent fighter in Saturday’s contest.
 
I can picture a give and take fight, each man having his moments, but I believe that Chavez can pull away from the veteran after the halfway stage. Chavez showed impressive 12-round staying power in his wins over Zbik and John Duddy, and it seems a very long time ago when Manfredo was boxing in Season One of the now defunct Contender show. I am certain that Manfredo will fight well and give a wholehearted effort, but I think that Chavez has the heart and toughness to fight through the difficult moments, and the energy and ambition to put in a strong closing drive.
 
Manfredo is a good, honest fighter but I think it’s fair to say that this is a fight that has been made for Chavez to win: that doesn’t mean to say it will be easy. I’m expecting Chavez to get the victory, but he’ll have to fight for it.