Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Wins Unanimous Decision Over John Duddy

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has begun a winning family tradition at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Some 17 years after his father, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., fought to a 12-round, majority draw with Pernell Whitaker in September of 1993 at the same venue, the son went one better.

The 24-year-old Chavez overcame being staggered in the sixth round by sweeping the rest of the fight against New York's John Duddy, earning a one-sided, unanimous decision before a partisan crowd.

Judges Juergen Langos, Julie Lederman, and Glen Rick Crocker scored it, respectively, 120-108, 117-111, and, 116-112, all for Chavez.

FanHouse scored it 118-109 for Chavez, who was led into the ring by his father.

Chavez improved his mark to 41-0-1 with 30 knockouts, dropping Duddy to 29-2, with 18 knockouts.

"I hope that everyone enjoyed tonight. I tried to give it my best. I want to thank God, but also, my trainers, Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza They did a great job," said Chavez, whose father brought a record of 87-0 into the match opposite Whitaker, and would go 89-0-1 before losing his first bout over an eventual, career mark of 107-6-2, with 86 knockouts.

In victory, Chavez ended a seven-month ring absence, having last fought on Nov. 14 when he earned a 10-round, unanimous decision over Troy Rowlands (25-3, seven KOs) of Michigan.

The victory over Rowlands, however, was ruled a no-contest after Chavez was determined to have tested positive for the banned diuretic, Furosemide, by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

"I'm very pleased with his fight," said Roach. "I thought he had a good performance. I'm very happy with it. But the first three rounds, I thought that he was giving John too much momentum. I thought that it looked bad for the judges, because coming forward sometimes, you win close rounds.

"So I told him, 'Okay, now it's time to back him up. We wanted to show that if you back him up, he can't fight going backwards. And that's what he showed and that's what won Julio the fight."

Chavez and Duddy waged war even through the first five rounds, this, before Duddy shook him and stood him up with a left-right combination in the sixth.

"I knew that I hurt him. Unfortunately, I wasn't good enough to finish him off. He had good pressure, and he hits solidly with both hands, you know. A very good kid," said Duddy. "I thought that it was a very good fight. I came here and I tried to do what I thought that I could do. I wish that I could have gone better."

From then on, however, the younger man came forward and dictated the pace largely behind a right hand that followed his jabs. Chavez also had success on the inside with crisp uppercuts with both hands.

"They were feeling out rounds, the first three rounds tonight against Duddy," said Chavez. "We wanted to see what he had. Once I felt sure that I could handle him, I went right after him and I pressured him. What we had talked about in the gym was moving him back and pushing him back, and I hope that the fans enjoyed it.

"He did hit me pretty good. I did feel that punch. But that shows that I can also take a punch. I think that he's a very strong guy and he definitely caught me."

Campaigning as both a junior middleweight (154 pounds) and middleweight, Chavez earned the WBC's silver middleweight crown, making him the mandatory challenger to 35-year-old WBC titlist, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs).

"Tonight, we have a new star, and that's Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.," said Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions. "He can fight anybody and any place. He was in with a real, courageous warrior in John Duddy. All props to John Duddy."

"I want to thank the man who started all of this, and that's Manny Pacquiao, who convinced Julio to go and train with Freddie and work with Alex. That's what made him into a future, big, big star in the sport of boxing," said Arum.

"The old Julio Cesar would have been demolished by John Duddy. He would have run out of gas and Duddy would have taken him out. Remember, Julio only had four weeks with Freddie. As he puts in more and more time with Freddie, who knows? Look what Freddie did with Manny Pacquiao. He can do a similar thing with Julio Cesar Chavez."

Chavez also is in line for the WBC junior middleweight crown vacated by Martinez as one of the top two ranked fighters in the organization, along with former world welterweight king Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs).

Chavez also has been mentioned as a potential challenger to newly-crowned, WBA junior middleweight champ, Miguel
Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs).

"Alex and Freddie tell me that there's no problem going down to 154 and maybe he fights Miguel Cotto for the junior middleweight championship," said Arum.

"John Duddy is a great fighter," said Chavez. "He showed his heart. I beat a very strong warrior tonight. Without a doubt. I hope that everyone believes in me. I'll be a world champion some day, and I wanted to prove that to everyone tonight."