Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs Andy Lee Preview June 16th
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be defending his WBC middleweight title against Andy Lee on June 16th in El Paso, Texas.
Chavez beat Marco Antonio Rubio by decision in his last bout in February and many fans hoped he’d be taking on Sergio Martinez for the title after Martinez had the WBC belt stripped from him by the organization’s president Jose Sulaiman. Instead, we have Andy Lee, who could be seen as a tune up fight for Chavez instead. Lee’s a good fighter, but isn’t in the elite class. However, the same could possibly be said of Chavez.
Lee has a fine record of 28-1, with 20 KOs, and is quite tall for a middleweight at 6-foot-2. The 28-year-old southpaw is a former NABF-NABA middleweight titleholder. He hasn’t really fought any of the division’s top talents, but had quite a successful amateur career and the Irishman won a couple of titles in Europe before turning pro in 2006. He also came close to winning the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Greece.
Lee has lost just one fight, which was to Brian Vera by seventh-round stoppage in 2008 and he avenged that loss last year by a 10-round unanimous decision. Lee has good speed, power, and mobility for a tall man and it helps that famous trainer Emanuel Steward is in his corner. He goes to the body well and his side-to-side movement is quite good.
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The 26-year-old Chavez will take his 45-0-1 record in the ring with him along with his 31 KOs. He’s a couple of inches shorter than Lee at six feet and that could trouble him. Chavez is entertaining to watch since he’s always coming forward and keeps his hands busy. His footwork’s good, but he hasn’t really got one-punch knockout power. He’s quite strong and physical though, but could have a problem making weight.
Chavez isn’t too hard to find and hit and doesn’t mind turning his fights into brawls due to his good chin. On the other hand, Lee doesn’t take a punch as well as Chavez does and that could be his downfall here. But if he can take Chavez’s hardest shots he could end up giving the champion quite a bit of trouble due to his boxing skills.
Chavez will have to depend on his footwork to catch Lee and negate Lee’s strong right jab. He might have a little difficulty doing this because of Lee’s size, reach, mobility, and speed. But Lee hasn’t taken on a world-class opponent before and might find it harder than he realizes. Chavez is definitely the toughest boxer he’s ever faced and it’s not going to be easy.
Chavez will be depending on his straight right hand to do damage to the southpaw while Lee will need a strong straight left. Chavez could wear down in the later rounds if he had to lose a lot of weight to make the 160 lb. limit. Lee needs to take advantage of Chavez’s mediocre defense and try to rack up as many points as possible.
Prediction
It’s going to be hard to beat Chavez by decision though, especially with the bout being held in Texas. Chavez seems to be one of the WBC favourites and he’d have to completely dominate the bout or knock Chavez out to win the fight. Look for Chavez to hold onto his belt by late stoppage or decision.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Chavez win at -345 and a Lee victory at +285. The odds of the bout going over 9.5 rounds are -240 and going under 9.5 rounds at +200. Visit 5Dimes.eu to bet on this fight. Remember to use 5Dimes marketing code AF0002879 if you’re opening a new account in order to receive up to $520 in bonus dollars.
Written by: Ian Palmer
Andy Lee betting • Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. betting