Fast Results from Phoenix: History Repeats as Chavez Jr Exits After Five Frames

In 2005, the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez had his final fight at America West Arena in Phoenix. He was matched against Omaha journeyman Grover Wiley. El Gran Campeon, then 43 years old, retired on his stool after five rounds with a broken hand. Tonight, his son of the same name was here, although you wouldn’t know it from the name of the building which has been re-branded twice since the elder Chavez fought here and nowadays is known as the Talking Stick Resort Arena, taking its name from a nearby Native American hotel-casino.

In a bizarre instance of history repeating itself, the younger Chavez also retired on his stool after five frames. At first it appeared that the motivation was a broken hand, but apparently his nose had been broken to the point where he couldn’t breathe properly. Up to the time of the stoppage, his opponent Daniel Jacobs had been the busier man and when the bell sounded to end the fifth it appeared that Jacobs was also the fresher man.

Daniel Jacobs, the Brooklyn “Miracle Man” who overcame a rare form of bone cancer to twice grab a piece of the world middleweight title, improved to 36-3 (29) in what was his debut at 168 pounds. Chavez Jr, who came in nearly five pounds overweight at the weigh-in, was naturally the bigger man but Jacobs had the bigger heart. When the end came, Chavez was booed and objects went flying in his direction as he left the ring. It was the second time that he had turned in a stinker in an important fight after being whitewashed by Canelo Alvarez in a 2017 Cinco de Mayo snoozer. (In defense of Chavez Jr, who declined to 51-4-1, his four losses have come at the hands of opponents who were a combined 138-4-2 at the time that he fought them.)

Co-Feature

Mexico City’s Julio Cesar Martinez (15-1, 1 NC, 12 KOs), with TSS 2019 Trainer of the Year Eddy Reynoso in his corner, delivered a very strong performance in capturing the vacant WBC world flyweight title with a ninth-round stoppage of Nicaragua’s Cristofer Rosales (29-5) who was seeking to regain the title that he once held. Martinez, a consensus 3/1 favorite, was the alpha male, forcing Rosales to fight off his back foot. Rosales was on his feet when the referee stopped the fight to prevent him from taking further punishment. Martinez’s lone defeat came in his pro debut and that was a split decision.

TV Lid-Lifter

In a welterweight match slated for 10 rounds, former WBO 140-pound world title holder Maurice Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) dismissed late sub Uriel Perez in a jiffy, ending matters with a body shot late in the opening round. Hooker was making his first start since being stopped in the sixth round by Jose Carlos Ramirez in a unification fight and making his first start under his new head trainer, Brian McIntyre. The 24-year old Perez, making his first appearance outside his native Mexico, fell to 19-5.

Other Bouts

Liverpool’s Liam Smith, a former WBO 154-pound champion now campaigning as a middleweight, improved to 29-2-1 with a clear-cut 10-round decision over 39-year-old Tex-Mex veteran Robert Garcia (42-5) who was making his first start in 16 months. The scores were 98-92 and 99-91 twice.

Welterweight Josh Kelly, who represented England in the 2016 Olympics (he was eliminated from the competition by Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yeleussinov) improved to 10-0-1 with a one-sided 10-round decision over Nicaraguan southpaw Wiston Campos (31-7-6). The scores were 98-91 and 99-90 twice. This was designed as a tune-up for Kelly who has an agreement in place for a match with European welterweight title-holder David Avanesyan. Campos is 1-4-1 in his last six starts.

In another welterweight contest, the aforementioned Yeleussinov, a two-time Olympian and gold medalist at the Rio games, improved to 9-0 (5 KOs) with a fifth-round stoppage of Alan Sanchez (20-5-1). The bout was stopped by the ring doctor at the 0:19 mark because Sanchez, from Fairfield, CA, by way of Guadalajara, could no longer see out of his swollen left eye. Yeleussinov dominated the completed rounds.

By the way, Chavez Jr, 33, avenged his father’s loss to Grover Wiley, stopping the Omaha man in the third round at Madison Square Garden on June 9, 2007. For that fight, Chavez Jr, then 21 years old, carried 150 pounds.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom

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