Julio Cesar Chavez Jr Next Fight: 'JCCJ' Injures Hand But Hints Possible Bout With Lucian Bute
Former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. may have injured his hand during his fight with Marcos Reyes on July 18, but that didn't deter him from aiming to return in October or November to possibly clash with Lucian Bute.
The Mexican fighter, who won over Reyes via a unanimous decision, failed to impress boxing critics and fans with his performance. For some observers, Chavez Jr. dominated his opponent because of his massive body, ESPN reported.
Even Reyes thought that he should have been proclaimed the winner that night.
"I did my work; I showed him how I box. [The weight] makes a difference. And he didn't make the weight. He's a light heavyweight fighting a middleweight," Reyes was quoted as saying after the fight.
The 27-year-old Mexican boxer also received comments from Andrzej Fonfara (27-3, 16KOs), the only opponent who served him a loss by a TKO in April.
"I want to congratulate Chavez on the victory, but we all know that if we met again - I would knock out him out again, maybe even quicker," Fonfara said, as quoted by Boxing Scene.
Reyes 'never hurt me'
Chavez maintained that he's happy with his win. He said he delivered a great show and could have even put the lighter Mexican down, if not for his hurting hand.
"With all respect to Reyes, I think if I didn't hurt my hand, I would have knocked him out... I connected with the best punches to the chin and to the body. I hurt him, but I couldn't finish him because I hurt my hand. If he wants a rematch, whatever. He never hurt me," the son of the six-time world boxing champion said.
The former boxing titlist sustained a hard injury described as a "hairline fracture on the knuckle of the index finger on the left hand," wrote Boxing Scene.
JCCJ's next fight
Even though the warrior is suffering from a hand fracture, he is already planning his next match, which could happen this fall.
"I need to be active. When I do not fight is when I have more problems, so I think I can go back in October. We talked about a couple of names, including Lucian Bute, but first I have to take care of my hand," Chavez Jr. told ESPN Deportes, as quoted by Boxing Scene.
Bute, who holds a 31-2 win-loss record, was last seen in January last year but will come back to clash with Andrea Di Luisa on Aug.15.
Earlier, Chavez Jr. declared his desire to have the honor of having a WBC super middleweight title for himself and for his fellowmen. He plans to be have a showdown with whoever will be declared the winner of the fight between current super middleweight champion Badou Jack and challenger George Groves. The two are initially set to collide on Aug. 22, but their fight may be moved to Sept. 12 for a possible undercard for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. his reported foe, Andre Berto, according to Boxing News 24.
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