Julio Cesar Chavez: The King of Mexican Boxing

Born in July 1962 in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, Julio Cesar Chavez's father as a railway worker and he grew up with a family of nine siblings in an abandoned rail car. He began boxing and turned pro in February 1980, just short of his 18th birthday.

In the early days of JC Chavez's career, he fought about once a month, and in fact it was that busy throwback schedule that also defined his training. Julio Cesar Chavez did not have elaborate programs of roadwork, conditioning, weightlifting, and scientifically-designed nutrition designed to bring him to a peak of performance just prior to a fight. Instead, when he went to the gym he sparred a lot, and then fought frequently, unwittingly following the maxim that the best way to prepare for something is by doing it. Standing 5'7", Chavez was a rugged, strong fighter with a concrete chin. His boxing style was characterized by its relentless, determined aggression, always walking down his opponent, applying pressure, and looking to land a tremendous left hook to the body. The result of a sustained Chavez body attack was the collapse of either the opponent, or the opponent's guard as his arms came down to protect his body from more left hooks. Chavez would then switch to battering the head. Chavez's attack was often described "lead with your chin and follow with the left hook to the liver," and as grossly over-simplified it was, it captured the essence of an cast-iron Mexican who came forward looking to break ribs. As Chavez's legend grew, so many lesser Mexican boxers imitated his style that it continues to be the stereotype of the Mexican boxing today.

First Championship of Many

Julio Cesar Chavez kept busy, racking up a record of 43-0 as he wrecked a path over thoroughly third-rate opposition, mostly in Mexico. That was when he was matched against his first solid opponent, fellow Mexican Mario Martinez. They met in September 1984 for the WBC Super Featherweight (130lbs) title vacated by Hector "Macho" Camacho (who would later become Chavez's bitter rival). Martinez was the betting favorite, but Chavez stopped him in 8 rounds.

From 1985 to 1987, Chavez built up his profile as an international boxing star and Mexican sports hero. In 1985 he defended his title in Las Vegas against fringe contender Roger Mayweather, the uncle of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., knocking him down twice en route to a 2nd Round TKO. In 1986 came veteran contender and former champ Juan La Porte, one of only two bouts Chavez would fight in Madison Square Garden. This was the first bout where Chavez's big heart and enormous grit were on public display, as La Porte caught out Chavez and gave him a beating in Round 3, and then again in Round 8, hurting Chavez badly enough to buckle his knees, and finally dominating Round 12. However, Chavez carried most of the other rounds and retained his title by just barely eeking out a Unanimous Decision. 55-0 with 48KOs, Chavez kept his green WBC belt, but his growing aura of invincibility had suffered a big dent.

Chavez also made a handful of non-title fights against easy, "tomato can" opponents. These were easy paydays, but also fit Chavez's preference of staying in shape by fighting. In all, he defended the WBC title 9 times in the space of less than three years, winning five of those by knockout.

The Lightweight Champion

In November 1987, JC Chavez moved up to lightweight (135lbs) and directly challenged the highly touted WBA champion Edwin Rosario of Puerto Rico. In the weeks before the bout, Rosario started trash-talking about Mexicans, angering Chavez and bringing out his mean streak. Chavez gave Rosario a terrible beating, delivering a brutal 11th Round TKO.

He defended the black WBA belt once and made a handful of non-title bouts before meeting Rosario's arch-rival Juan Luis Ramierez (another fellow Mexican and good friend who has previously sparred with Chavez), the reigning WBC lightweight champion. The victor would be the unified WBC-WBA champion and dominant titleholder in the division. In 1988, the two professionals put on a spectacular show for a crowd of adoring Mexican and Mexican-American fans in Las Vegas. Chavez changed his style for the fight, letting Ramierez come forward and turning counter-puncher. He landed a hard right on Ramierez, who was hurt but would not fall. In the 11th, Chavez and Ramierez butt heads, which opens a cut on the head of Ramierez. In what was widely decried as an incompetent decision, the doctor stopped the fight because of the cut. Chavez, who was comfortably ahead on all the scorecards, thus won by stoppage in the 11th.

Cementing a Legend: Chavez vs. Taylor I

In 1989 Chavez moved up to super lightweight (140lbs) and fought Roger Mayweather in a rematch for the WBC title. Mayweather, complaining of stomach cramps, quit on his stool in the 10th. He defended the title twice, including a bout with undefeated fringe contender Alberto Cortes, who Chavez crushed in 3 rounds.

In 1990, Chavez met IBF 140lbs champion Meldrick Taylor in another unification bout, in the first big fight to take place following Mike Tyson's upset knockout loss at the hands of Buster Douglas. By now Chavez was the firmly established hero of Mexico, a three division world champion and undefeated in 68 fights. In a classic example of styles making fights, Taylor was the opposite of Chavez in almost every way. Blessed with fast hands, nimble feet, and catlike reflexes, Taylor was a flashy boxing prodigy who went to the Olympics in the famed class of 1984, winning gold at the tender age of 17.

Taylor put his marvelous gifts to work, as he danced and used his vastly superior hand speed to land blistering combinations. However, Taylor was arrogant, and finding Chavez an easy target, would often stop to trade with him. Taylor was so fast that he was landed many more punches, but Chavez's punches were killing Taylor's body in a classic example of taking a many punches to land one vicious, hard blow. Taylor built up a big lead in points, but Chavez was grinding his man down. As Chavez's body punching took its toll, Taylor's feet got heavy and his reflexes slowed, leading him to trade more and more. By the last quarter of the fight, Taylor's face was a swollen mess (he had cracked bones in both eye sockets), he was bleeding from the mouth, and had swallowed a good bit of his own blood. He was so far ahead on points that he could easily afford to lose the last three rounds; the real question was would he survive long enough to get to a decision.

In the 12th and final Round, with less than half a minute remaining, Chavez closed in on his man, landing a hard right that hurt Taylor. Ever the warrior, Taylor came forward at Chavez, but "JC" followed up with a penetrating left hook to the body and a left uppercut. Taylor clinched, hung on for dear life, and mauled Chavez onto the ropes, but Chavez spun out and landed a left uppercut-overhand right combo that crushed Taylor. Taylor got to his feet at the count of five, but did not respond when referee Richard Steele asked him if he was OK to continue. Steele ended he fight, calling a TKO with only 2 seconds remaining.

Steele's decision continues to be controversial to this day, with many claiming it was an act of corrupt favoritism to Chavez's promoter Don King. Steele has always defended himself by saying that he didn't know how much time was left in the fight, and he was doing his job by protecting the fighter. In this case, Steele's explanation rings truer than accusations of favoritism or tampering with an official. From Steele's point of view, it could have been 2 seconds or 20, but Taylor was clearly badly hurt and at risk of permanent injury. Indeed, Tayor was urinating blood after the bout, and was never the same after the terrible damage Chavez inflicted on him. The controversial call aside, Chavez vs. Taylor I became The Ring's Fight of the Year for 1990, and later the Fight of the Decade for the 1990s. It also crowned JC Chavez as the WBC-IBF champion and the greatest champion in the history of Mexican boxing.

The King of Mexico

Chavez defended his two belts twice, but ultimately gave up the IBF strap rather than pay double the sanctioning fees and be forced to make two mandatory defenses per year. He retained the World Boxing Council's green belt, choosing it because of the close triangular relationship between himself, his promoter Don King, and WBC President Jose Sulaiman. With Mike Tyson's legend fading, and the heavyweight soon to go to prison on a rape conviction, King would soon turn Chavez to maintain his promotional empire, resulting in Chavez's golden years of the early 1990s.

After five defenses, in 1992, he fought 40-1 Puerto Rican Hector "Macho" Camacho. Camacho and Chavez had been fighting at roughly the same weights for years, moving up together yet somehow never meeting. All that changed when Camacho signed with Don King. Ever the flashy showboat, Camacho had been trashing Chavez for years, so their meeting was a highly anticipated bout on Pay-Per-View. Chavez won a lopsided decision over his rival.

In 1993, Chavez fought former world champ Greg Haugen at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Haugen trashed Chavez and Mexico in the run-up to the fight, claiming (with a kernel of truth) that Chavez's record of 84-0 was built over "Tijuana truck drivers." When told what the ticketed attendance was going to be, Haugen declared "there aren't 130,000 Mexicans who could afford tickets" for the fight. Haugen was wrong: before a screamed crowd of 136,274 adoring fans (the all-time record for live attendance at a boxing match), Chavez set out to punish Haugen for his hubris. Chavez dropped Haugen early in the 1st and could have finished him, but backed off to let Haugen survive so he could beat him some more. He went on to pound his man into a 5th Round TKO.

Chavez Starts Losing: Whittaker vs. Chavez

In 1993, Chavez was 87-0 and 31 years old. He moved up in weight to challenge Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whittaker for his WBC welterweight (147lbs) title. Whittaker was, if anything, a more daunting mountain to climb than Meldrick Taylor had been. Also a medal winner from the famed 1984 US Olympic Team, Whittaker (like Chavez) had won world titles in three weight classes, including a reign as undisputed world lightweight champion, and was already considered boxing's great modern defensive genius.

Chavez began to show the signs of his advancing age and the wear and tear of his many gutsy wars. He seemed sluggish and was routinely unable to cut off the ring on Whittaker. When he was able to get Whittaker on the inside, he discovered the frustrations of fighting a man who could plant his feet, stand right in front of you, and still prove impossible to hit squarely. Whittaker was not Taylor, and did not give Chavez a chance to play his own game. Instead, using his famed elusiveness and hand speed, he made Chavez miss, outlanded him, and piled up the points. Even though the bout was held in San Antonio, guaranteeing the stands would be packed with adoring Chavez fans, by the end they stood silent as Whittaker handily outboxed their man.

Yet Whittaker did not get the nod. In a stinker of a decision that remains controversial to this day, Whittaker vs. Chavez was ruled a draw. The announcement led to booing even from Chavez's own fans, and was condemned widely in the media. Sports Illustrated famously featured the bout on the cover of their next issue declaring Whittaker was "Robbed!" The finger was pointed directly at Don King, the WBC, and the judges they appointed for the fight. Today, it is hard to find anyone except for possibly Julio Cesar Chavez himself who believes he actually earned a draw in that fight.

JC Chavez returned to super lightweight and his world title in that division. However, his very next defense of his title confirmed what the Whittaker bout had already revealed: Chavez had lost a step. In January 1994, he met Frankie "The Surgeon" Randall. Randall was a solid contender, but certainly no Meldrick Taylor, so Chavez was favored to win. Although the bout was close, Chavez was knocked down for the first time in his career, and showed a dirty, petulant side by using low blows to disrupt Randall's momentum. However, as he was penalized for those low blows twice, his actions cost him the fight. In his 91st professional fight, Chavez suffered his first loss on a split decision, which would have been a draw if he had not resorted to hitting below the belt. Ironically, a bitter Chavez blamed referee Richard Steele, the same man who stopped the first fight with Meldrick Taylor, for deducting the points and leading to his defeat!

Chavez demanded and got an immediate rematch, with a much-hyped Chavez vs. Randall II taking place on Pay-Per-View in May 1994. Chavez improved on his prior performance, but the fight was still close, with Chavez just a little ahead on only one scorecard. Then an accidental head butt opened a substantial gash on Chavez's brow. Chavez indicated he could not continue, and under WBC rules the fight was stopped, the uncut fighter (Randall) was penalized a point, and then the decision determined. That one point deduction was enough to push Chavez ahead on one more scorecard, giving him a Technical Decision victory. It was hardly a decisive revenge over Randall.

Chavez's had lost some lustre, so he was rematched with Meldrick Taylor. Although a highly anticipated return bout, Taylor was not the same man Chavez had fought in 1990. He never truly recovered from the brutal body beating he took from Chavez, and Chavez stopped him in 8 Rounds. He went on to defend against former world champs Tony Lopez and Giovanni Parisi, and tough undefeated journeyman David Kamau, defeating all of them.

The Lion in Winter

In June 1996, Julio Cesar Chavez faced rising Mexican-American superstar Oscar de la Hoya. De la Hoya attacked Chavez with his rapier-like jab, opening a terrible cut on Chavez's brow and leading to a 4th Round stoppage. The young lion handed Chavez his second defeat, his first by stoppage, and walked off his his world title. The winter of Chavez's long career had begun.

JC Chavez began his comeback with a TKO8 against former world champ Joey Gamache, showing that he was still a force to be reckoned with even if he was no longer the dominant force in his division. This led to a showdown with the tough Miguel Angel Gonzalez to win back the WBC super lightweight title, which was vacated by de la Hoya when he moved up to welterweight. He fought his younger Mexican rival to a draw in the Plaza del Toro in Mexico City. Then later that year, he was offered a rematch with Oscar de la Hoya. De la Hoya had been angered by Chavez's trash talking and excuse-mongering after their fist defeat, and thirsted to decisively crush the aging champion of Mexico. He also was looking for an easy payday, and knew Chavez was his man. The two fought again, and for once Chavez was on the receiving end of someone else's mean streak. De la Hoya beat Chavez badly, forcing the proud warrior to quit on his stool between the 8th and 9th.

The decline of JC Chavez accelerated at this point. He won a couple of fights, but was then outpointed by journeyman Willy Wise in The Ring's Upset of the Year for 1999. The next year, in a last gift from the WBC, Chavez challenged Kostya Tsyzu for the WBC super lightweight championship. Tsyzu crushed Chavez in 6 rounds.

Chavez should have been done, but he was a proud man and a living legend, and had scores to settle besides. In 2003, he got his revenge on Willy Wise, winning a 2nd Round stoppage on cuts. Six months later, he outpointed an equally shopworn Frankie Randall, winning their rubber match and sealing a record of 2-1 against his old rival. However, it seemed as if those two fights stirred something in Chavez, who continued to stay in the ring. In 2005 he fought and beat another used-up contender in the form of Ivan Robinson. Then he met Grover Wiley, and was handily outboxing him when Chavez broke his hand. Unable to continue, the bout was stopped in the 5th with Wiley the winner. Following the loss, Chavez finally hung up his gloves

Retirement and Legacy

Julio Cesar Chavez retired as a world champion in three weight classes, with a record of 106-8-2 with 87 KOs. He reigned as a unified titleholder twice, and is most identified with his first reign as super lightweight champion, which lasted for 12 defenses and 4 1/2 years; Chavez in all made 27 successful defenses of his various titles in 37 title fights. He has been ranked by ESPN and The Ring as among the greatest boxers in history. Chavez's status is so iconic that he is stereotypical even among those who have never seen him fight: the image of the relentless, body punching Mexican leading with his chin and contemptuous of his opponent's ability to hurt him is all Chavez. The equally popular stereotype of the rugged Mexican puncher versus the slick African-American boxer was solidified in the modern imagination by Chavez in his bouts with Meldrick Taylor and Pernell Whittaker. Above all, Chavez carved a place for himself in boxing-mad Mexico that no native son has held before or since. He was the champion of all Mexico, the king of Mexican boxing.

Today, Chavez's sons Omar and Julio, Jr. are boxers. His children first attracted attention, however, when the Chavez family was threatened with kidnapping in the mid 1990s. Julio Cesar Chavez became one of the first prominent Mexicans to speak out against the gangland practice of kidnapping the relatives of the famous in Mexico. A documentary about JC Chavez premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007, and today Chavez is working on opening a restaurant in Phoenix, AZ.

Sources: boxrec.com; personal experience; Official Julio Cesar Chavez Web Site; ESPN Classic Sports; old fight footage on YouTube; http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DB1F30F931A2575AC0A964958260; The Ring magazine