(The Great Mexican Champion)

Mexico is renowned for producing its share of tough and highly accomplished boxers but none has been as successful or hero-worshipped like Julio Cesar Chavez. In a distinguished career that lasted just over twenty-five years and included winning six world titles at three different weights, contesting a record thirty seven world title fights and winning over one hundred professional contests Chavez captivated fight fans across the globe. This is his story.

Born on 12 July 1962 in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico Chavez’s early life is typical of so many who find their way to the boxing world. His father Rodolfo Chavez worked for the railroad and for much of his early life Chavez together with his four brothers and five sisters grew up living in an abandoned railroad car. These early years instilled in him the iron will and determination to succeed and strive for something better.

At sixteen years of age he began boxing as an amateur. The amateur career did not last long as it was understandably money that motivated the young fighter and he began boxing for pay at the tender age of seventeen. His first pro contest was held at Culiacan (where he had moved and now resided) on 5 February 1980 his opponent Andres Felix was kayoed in the sixth round. This would be a familiar pattern for a Chavez contest over the coming years as he relentlessly pursued and stalked opponents landing heavy punches to body until they wilted under the remorseless pressure and firepower.

On 4 March 1981 the still raw but undeniably talented teen boxer fought his twelfth contest against Miguel Ruiz. At the end of the first round Chavez connected with a blow that knocked out his opponent. The knockout punch landed right on the bell and Chavez was disqualified. The following day the Culiacan Boxing Commission reviewed the referee’s decision and overruled it awarding the win to Chavez. It later emerged that Chavez’s manager Ramon Felix was a member of the commission! It was an early scare and would not be the first time there would be controversy at a Chavez fight.

More wins followed and it became clear after winning 43 contests in a row with 37 of those wins coming inside the distance that Chavez was a world-class boxer. On 13 September 1984 at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA the 22 year old contested the vacant WBC world super featherweight title against fellow countryman Mario Martinez. I doubt that those at ringside that night would have predicted that Chavez would be one of boxings major players and arguably the best pound for pound fighters, involved in another 36 world title fights. Martinez the betting favourite was seen off in eight rounds and a new era had dawned.

Impressive defences of the title followed proving that the win against Martinez was no fluke and cementing Chavez’s reputation as a major force. On 19 April 1985 he defeated his number one contender Ruben Castillo impressively by knockout in the sixth round. His next defence in July of that year he faced Floyd Mayweather Jr’s Uncle, the former WBA world super featherweight champion ‘The Black Mamba’ Roger Mayweather. Chavez was not intimidated by his quality foe mercilessly flooring him twice en route to a brutal two round stoppage. Boxing commentators had to notice this fighting sensation from Mexico now.

More defences followed and on 3 August 1986 Chavez faced off against another quality opponent in future IBF and WBA super featherweight champion Rocky Lockridge. The fight went the whole twelve round distance and one judge scored it a draw, yet the other two judges scored 119-113 and 116-113 to Chavez. Boxing often conjures up strange decisions and opinions, as it is such a subjective sport, most at ringside felt that Chavez had won this clearly yet three judges saw a very different fight. It was another impressive win for the champion.

On 12 December 1986 Chavez defended against the rock jawed and very dangerous contender and former WBC featherweight champion, Puerto Rico’s Juan Laporte. The fight took place at the hallowed Madison Square Garden in New York and Chavez impressed once again taking a close but unanimous points decision.

In 1987 defences followed against Francisco Tomas Da Cruz in France, where Chavez won easily in three rounds and against another common Barry McGuigan opponent: Danilo Carbrera who was totally outclassed losing heavily on points in Tijuana Mexico. In three short years Chavez had totally cleaned up the super featherweight division making an impressive nine successful defences of his crown and now set his sights higher.

On 21 November 1987 at The Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Chavez moved up to lightweight to challenge the tough Puerto Rican WBA champion Edwin Rosario. Amazingly it was the man moving up a division who exerted all the pressure and aggression and after ten and a half one-sided rounds referee Richard Steele jumped in to rescue a battered Rosario at 2 minutes 38 seconds of round eleven. Chavez had just won his second world title at a second weight. The victory was all the sweeter as many had predicted that Chavez would have a tough time against the hard hitting naturally heavier man and there had been bad blood between the two with Rosario making particularly unpleasant and uncalled for remarks. The win totally vindicated and enhanced Chavez’s reputation.

After an easy non-title bout win against Nicky Perez, Chavez defended his new title in April of 1988 against top contender the Panamanian Southpaw Rodolfo Aguilar who was 20 - 0 – 1 going in against Chavez. In the event held again at The Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas Chavez showed his superiority by winning easily in six rounds. He was starting to look invincible. In June of that same year he defeated fellow countryman the hard hitting two time champion Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon in seven rounds.

In October of 1988 came the unification contest with another Mexican Jose Luis Ramirez held again in Las Vegas. After a keenly contested match an accidental clash of heads opened a nasty cut over Ramirez’s eye and the fight was stopped. Under the rules the fight went to the scorecards where Chavez was ahead 96 – 94, 95 – 93 and 98 – 91. It was an unsatisfactory way to win but a win is a win and by virtue of the technical decision Chavez was now WBC and WBA world lightweight champion. He was recognised by the Ring Magazine and Sports Illustrated as well as boxing publications across the globe as the best in the world pound for pound.

Many boxers would have perhaps rested on their laurels for a while, putting the titles on ice and basking in glory but Chavez surprised everyone by vacating both his titles and announced he would be moving up another weight division to light-welterweight (or super-lightweight). On 13 May 1989 old foe Roger Mayweather was the WBC world light-welterweight champion and Chavez ripped his crown from him by virtue of a tenth round stoppage. Mayweather may have lasted longer than their first contest but took a pounding and was brought to a standstill by Chavez’s remorseless and unremitting two-handed aggression.

Chavez looked phenomenal and could now boast an undefeated boxing record with world titles at three different weights. He was still only 26 years old and had already achieved what many great boxers take to do in an entire career lasting many more years. Five easy wins followed including two world title defences to close out 1989 and what had been a high achieving and successful decade.

On 17 March 1990 at The Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas Chavez squared off against arguably his greatest foe so far: Olympic Gold medallist and IBF world light welterweight champion the undefeated (24 – 0 – 1) Philadelphian Meldrick Taylor. At the time of this eagerly anticipated contest with two vastly different boxers with different styles and personalities, Chavez was also unbeaten with a record of 68 wins and no defeats. Whoever won this would be considered to be the best pound for pound.

It was an exciting and absorbing affair with the classy, slick Philadelphian taking the early rounds, Chavez rallied and took a few rounds himself but it was generally accepted that by the twelfth and last round he had to be behind on all the judges score cards and needed a knockout or stoppage to win. No one needed to remind the tough Mexican legend of this and he tore out of his corner at the bell and launched himself at Taylor.

After a non-stop two-fisted assault that saw Taylor getting pounded he went down for a count of six. He got up on unsteady feet and looked glassy eyed. The referee Richard Steele took a close look at Taylor and stopped the fight, then the controversy and outrage began. What the fighters and the referee were unaware of was that at the time of the stoppage there was only two seconds of the last round remaining. Taylor was robbed of certain victory by two seconds was the common protest from fans and members of the media.

The arguments continued over the next few days whether the stoppage was just or it being a world title fight and especially with only two seconds to go it should have been allowed to go on. There was no way that Chavez could have landed another shot in two seconds, by the time Steele waved the action on the bell would have sounded. The debates still rage to this day.

Steele acted like any other referee would when seeing a stricken fighter looking glassy eyed and wobbly on shaky legs, he showed compassion and good judgement. No one wants to see a fatality in the ring or a fighter getting seriously hurt. The real question was whether Steele was aware of the timing of his stoppage, most boxers and referees arguably have a built in clock and can accurately guess how much time has elapsed even in the heat of battle. Yet even accounting for that can we reasonably expect Steele to know there were only a few seconds of the bout remaining? Accusations have flown around claiming that Steele was biased in favour of Chavez but these have never been substantiated.

Steele himself said of the stoppage: ‘I stopped it because Meldrick had took a lot of good shots, a lot of hard shots, and it was time for it to stop. You know, I'm not the timekeeper, and I don't care about the time. When I see a man that has had enough, I'm stopping the fight.’

That sounds reasonable but we will never know for sure whether there was skullduggery at play. As a direct consequence of this fight Steele who had spent most of the seventies and eighties as a highly regarded official seemed to drift from the scene afterwards and was used significantly less for the big world title fights in the wake of Chavez versus Taylor.

The fight was dubbed ‘Fight of the Year’ by Ring Magazine and later as ‘Fight of The Decade.’ It was certainly one of the most dramatic and controversial anyway. Many cried for an immediate rematch and Taylor moved up in weight. The pair would meet again in the ring, but more about that later!

Chavez won three easy non-title contests to keep his engine ticking over then defended successfully against: Kyung-Duk Ahn of South Korea winning by third round knockout to close 1990. In 1991 he defeated John Duplessis (RSF 4), Tommy Small in a non-title contest (KO 4), former champion Lonnie Smith on unanimous points decision in a title defence before posting two more non-title wins to close another successful year as undefeated champion.

1992 started well as he saw off the challenge of top contender Angel Hernandez in five rounds and later that same year Frankie Mitchell in four. In September at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas Chavez faced off against former champion and one of boxings most colourful and flamboyant characters, the Puerto Rican southpaw: Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho.

Camacho’s slick skills and bravado would not help him against the unstoppable force that was Chavez who pounded out a one-sided landslide unanimous points decision win. The then President of Mexico feted Chavez sending the car normally reserved for the Pope to take the world champion from the airport to the President’s house for an audience. By now Chavez was a folk hero in Mexico and worshipped as a sporting hero and idol to look up to.

By the time Chavez met American and former world champion Greg Haugen in the ring he was unbeaten in an incredible 82 fights. Considering that most boxers have half this number of contests in an entire career his stats were mightily impressive. That did not stop Haugen from deriding it by saying that most of Chavez’s wins had been over ‘Tijuana taxi drivers.’

This did not endear him to the Mexican public and fight fans and was perhaps ill-advised in especially in light of the fact that he would face the world’s best in front of a record 132, 274 fans that packed the Estadio Azteca in Mexico. Chavez made Haugen pay for his word and battered him almost at will until the referee wisely stepped in to stop it in the fifth. The crowd were ecstatic and afterwards Chavez said to Haugen ‘Now you know I don't fight with taxi drivers’, a bloodied Haugen responded, ‘They must have been tough taxi drivers.’

A sixth round TKO win over Terrance Ali closed what was yet another successful year for the amazing Mexican fighter.

Chavez had made a record twenty defences of his light-welterweight title and now he was determined to take another title at another weight. Standing in the way of Chavez winning a world title at a fourth weight was the excellent stylist Pernell ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker. The fight was held on 10 September 1993 at the impressive Alamadome stadium, San Antonio, Texas where there would be huge support from Mexicans and Tex – Mexicans for Chavez. He would need it as this would prove to be yet another controversial contest.

Chavez was unbeaten in 87 straight contests going in and nothing short of a coronation of him, as new champion would appease the partisan fans. Into this cauldron went the cool, calm and classy Whitaker who was perhaps one of the best defensive boxers of all time; he was certainly one of the slipperiest. He would never feature on a list of most exciting fighters all time but he was widely respected and highly regarded as one of the best technical champions in history.

In a tense and absorbing rather than exciting affair the fight went the whole distance where many in the media and impartial observers felt that Whitaker had won on points. When the decision of a majority draw was announced Whitaker placed his hands on his head and smiled in disbelief and shock. Many branded the contest a robbery and a fix and it did look a harsh outcome for Whitaker who despite keeping his title because of the draw felt denied of victory over Chavez. Tellingly there was no rush or lobbying for a rematch by Team Chavez.

Chavez closed out 1993 with a fifth round win over brave but outgunned Liverpudlian challenger Andy Holligan in a successful defence of his WBC world light-welterweight title in Puebla, Mexico. That was more like it but 1994 would turn Chavez’s boxing world upside down.

Enter Frankie Randall a decent honest pro who had paid his dues in 51 contests winning 48 of them, losing two and drawing one. Randall nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’ was no spring chicken in boxing terms at 32, the same age as the champion and while he was respected in boxing circles as a decent contender no one really gave him a chance against the great Mexican warrior. Everyone was shocked when on 29 January 1994 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas Randall boxed masterfully and scoring the first knockdown of Chavez’s career on the way to winning a split decision. Chavez had been penalized for low blow in the seventh and eleventh rounds and looked out of sorts for the contest.

The referee that took the two points from Chavez? None other than Richard Steele! The WBC ordered an immediate rematch and the devastated Mexican fans as well as their idol had to try to come to terms with what had just happened. All those years of meeting and defeating the very best in three weight divisions and it was a decent almost journeyman fighter that had beaten the unstoppable Chavez.

The rematch also held at the MGM Grand on 7 May that same year produced more controversy in the career of Chavez. The rematch was fiercely contested until in the seventh round there was a nasty clash of heads resulting in a large cut over Chavez’s eye. Chavez rallied and fought well up until the referee Mills Lane called for the doctor in the eighth who then instructed for the fight to be stopped. Under WBC rules, Randall was deducted one point, and that gave Chavez the technical victory on the score cards.

It was a win but it was a controversial one. Many accused the WBC of accommodating Chavez but he was at least ahead on two of the three judges score cards and looked the stronger this time around. It was more of an unsatisfactory conclusion than a controversy but there were more critics of Chavez in boxing circles now.

Chavez needed a morale boost and stepping into the breech was old foe Meldrick Taylor. It was a chance to wipe the slate clean in Chavez’s mind. He had defeated his only conqueror Randall and now he had a chance to clear up the Taylor controversy of over four years earlier. The rematch was fought on 17 September 1994 at the MGM Grand and was for Chavez’s WBC light-welterweight title.

This time around Chavez made sure there was no doubt as to who was the better man as he mercilessly pounded his rival all over the ring and into stoppage defeat in the eighth round. It was just the win that the Mexican great needed to feel vindicated and he had won in style impressing the fans and critics alike.

Three-time champion Tony Lopez was next in December 1994 and Chavez posted an impressive tenth round stoppage. In 1995 he defended against former and future champion Italy’s Giovanni Parisi winning a unanimous points decision. Number one contender Kenya’s David Kamau was next in September and was beaten in another unanimous points decision. Chavez was back to his best yet the 33-year-old boxer was telling journalists that he was considering retirement:

‘I've had a lot of problems with my arms, with my knees. I really don't want to extend myself much longer, after so many years of working out, it all builds up. I am not giving what I used to be able to give. I will fight (Oscar) De La Hoya for a lot of money, and then retire.’

An easy non-title win over Scott Walker followed before the eagerly anticipated match up with rival and new sensation Oscar De La Hoya ‘The Golden Boy’ a former Olympian undefeated in 21 fights going in against Chavez and already a world champion at three different weights himself. De La Hoya was only 23 years old to Chavez’s 34. The much-hyped fight took place at Caesars Palace Las Vegas and was a huge draw.

Unfortunatley for Chavez time caught up with him. In his 99th professional contest his younger fresher opponent opened up a nasty gash over Chavez’s right eye in just the first minute of the first round. The eye was a mess and the blood flowed freely throughout the remainder of the contest, which was eventually halted in the fourth round. It was a sad night for Chavez who claimed that he had been cut in training prior to the contest. It definitely seemed a case of old scar tissue being re-opened. The writing should have been on the wall then. Chavez was a great fighter now past his prime. He should have retired after an exceptional career but the fighter is always last to know when its time to quit.

In his next fight in October of 1996 he stopped Joey Gamache and in 1997 posted two more wins. On 7 March 1998 36-year-old Chavez again challenged for the world light welterweight title this time held by Miguel Angel Gonzalez. The fight was between two Mexicans and was held in Mexico City. After twelve rounds it was adjudged to be a draw. It was a hugely impressive showing from the veteran but once again he was denied.

Chavez was still not finished with boxing and on 18 September 1998 he fought a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC welterweight title at the Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas. Again De La Hoya proved too fast, too fresh and too strong as he stopped the fading ring legend in the eighth round. There were no excuses this time and Chavez was in philosophical reflective mood rather than a bitter one afterwards.

Amazingly he would still not quit and after three more wins and a loss to unheralded Willy Wise on points (which he would late avenge by a second round stoppage) he challenged Australian based Russian Kostya Tzyu for the WBC world light-welterweight title in Phoenix Arizona on 29 July 2000. Chavez was now 38 years old but still determined and defiant. Sadly he was stopped in six rounds by his 30-year-old foe who would go on to be an exceptional champion himself.

Chavez would fight five more times between 2000 and 2005 including avenging his loss to Wise and winning a rubber match with Frankie Randall on a unanimous points decision in Mexico City. That last win must have felt particularly satisfying after the first couple of fights with Randall. His very last fight was a defeat on 17 September 2005 against unheralded Grover Wiley in Phoenix, Arizona. The party was well and truly over and at the age of 43 the aging great champion finally called time on a wonderful career.

Today Chavez lives in Mexico and works for the network TV Azteca as a boxing commentator. He owns businesses, petrol stations, and properties in Mexico and the United States. He has two sons, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr who has gone on to become a world champion himself and contender Omar Chavez.

Put simply Julio Cesar Chavez was a relentless pressure fighter, an impressive body puncher; with exceptional power and effective body and head movement as well as an underestimated defence. He was also unrivalled in his ability to cut off the ring. He was a world champion at three different weights and came so close to making that four. Winning six world titles he holds records for most successful consecutive title defences: 27, most title fights: 37, most victories in title fights: 31 and has an equal 21 title wins coming inside the distance with none other than the great Joe Louis.

Add all of those accomplishments to one of the longest undefeated streaks in boxing history of 13 years and it is little wonder that many regard him as the greatest fighter pound for pound. He has recently been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and rightly so.

‘El Gran Campeon’ – you bet he was! No one has worn the crown as well as he has and he will be remembered by fans and experts alike for the excitement and determination that he brought to every battle he fought in the ring.

Professional Fight record:

Wins: 107 losses: 6 draws: 2 knockouts: 89

World Title Fights: 37 Wins: 31 Losses: 4 Draws: 2

WBC World Super featherweight Champion 1984 – 1987

WBA World Lightweight Champion 1987 - 1988

WBC, WBA & IBF Light-Welterweight Champion 1988 – 1994

WBC Light-Welterweight Champion 1994 - 1996