Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1) followed in his legendary father’s big footsteps tonight at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, where he won his first major world title, taking the WBC middleweight crown from Germany’s Sebastian Zbik (30-1) via a majority decision by scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.
Examiner.com had the fight scored 115-113 or 7 rounds to 5 in favor of Sebastian Zbik.
The German came into the fight holding the middleweight belt which Sergio Martinez vacated, and he did not relinquish it easily, giving Chavez as good as he received for most of the evening in a surprisingly entertaining bout.
Known for his defensive and methodical style, to the surprise of many, Sebastian Zbik jumped all over Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. in the early rounds, flashing much superior speed and combination punching to the Mexican’s head and face. The challenger was never hurt by any of the punches but they were flush, scoring shots.
Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. simply came into the fight with the wrong game plan. Having gained an astonishing 20 pounds since yesterday’s weigh in, Chavez outweighed Zbik 180 to 165 pounds by the time of the fight. His plan was to use his superior height and reach to fight on the outside, but he was no match for the champion’s speed and combination punching.
As a result, he clearly lost the first four rounds of the match and dug himself a big hole.
The fight did not turn around for Chavez until the fifth, a frame fought mostly on the inside. This allowed the challenger to attack the body and use his superior strength. The cleaner, harder punches were landed by Chavez during the round, and he rocked Zbik with a right hand that had the champion a bit stunned at the bell.
In the sixth, both men continued to exchange big leather on the inside and although Zbik clearly outlanded Chavez, the champion appeared to be wilting a bit as a result of the pressure from a much bigger man in a close round.
With Sebastian Zbik doing good work on the inside again for the first two minutes of the seventh, Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. responded big with about 40 seconds left in the round, landing a huge right hand to the jaw and following up with an aggressive flurry until the bell rang.
The eighth round was highlighted by a vicious body attack from Chavez which seemed to really take the steam out of Zbik’s own punches. While the champion continued to land with frequency to the face of Chavez, he was not doing very much damage.
Round nine saw Sebastian Zbik reassert control with his superior speed and faster combinations to the head of Chavez.
Zbik’s speed continued to be a major problem for Chavez during the first two minutes of the tenth, but the challenger closed the round with another very strong attack to the body.
The eleventh saw a continuation of Chavez’s attack to the body. He had Zbik literally wincing in pain and mixed in some good uppercuts on the inside to easily take the round. By the end of the frame, Zbik appeared to have little left in his tank.
But the champion came out in the twelfth and final round landing tight, quick combinations to the head of Chavez before the challenger turned the tide and punished the champion to the body.
Although the fight could have easily gone either way on the scorecards, the victory for Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. was extremely impressive for a man with no amateur background going against someone with outstanding amateur credentials as well as being an undefeated professional titleholder.
Examiner.com had the fight scored 115-113 or 7 rounds to 5 in favor of Sebastian Zbik.
The German came into the fight holding the middleweight belt which Sergio Martinez vacated, and he did not relinquish it easily, giving Chavez as good as he received for most of the evening in a surprisingly entertaining bout.
Known for his defensive and methodical style, to the surprise of many, Sebastian Zbik jumped all over Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. in the early rounds, flashing much superior speed and combination punching to the Mexican’s head and face. The challenger was never hurt by any of the punches but they were flush, scoring shots.
Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. simply came into the fight with the wrong game plan. Having gained an astonishing 20 pounds since yesterday’s weigh in, Chavez outweighed Zbik 180 to 165 pounds by the time of the fight. His plan was to use his superior height and reach to fight on the outside, but he was no match for the champion’s speed and combination punching.
As a result, he clearly lost the first four rounds of the match and dug himself a big hole.
The fight did not turn around for Chavez until the fifth, a frame fought mostly on the inside. This allowed the challenger to attack the body and use his superior strength. The cleaner, harder punches were landed by Chavez during the round, and he rocked Zbik with a right hand that had the champion a bit stunned at the bell.
With Sebastian Zbik doing good work on the inside again for the first two minutes of the seventh, Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. responded big with about 40 seconds left in the round, landing a huge right hand to the jaw and following up with an aggressive flurry until the bell rang.
The eighth round was highlighted by a vicious body attack from Chavez which seemed to really take the steam out of Zbik’s own punches. While the champion continued to land with frequency to the face of Chavez, he was not doing very much damage.
Round nine saw Sebastian Zbik reassert control with his superior speed and faster combinations to the head of Chavez.
Zbik’s speed continued to be a major problem for Chavez during the first two minutes of the tenth, but the challenger closed the round with another very strong attack to the body.
The eleventh saw a continuation of Chavez’s attack to the body. He had Zbik literally wincing in pain and mixed in some good uppercuts on the inside to easily take the round. By the end of the frame, Zbik appeared to have little left in his tank.
But the champion came out in the twelfth and final round landing tight, quick combinations to the head of Chavez before the challenger turned the tide and punished the champion to the body.
Although the fight could have easily gone either way on the scorecards, the victory for Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. was extremely impressive for a man with no amateur background going against someone with outstanding amateur credentials as well as being an undefeated professional titleholder.
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