Former middleweight title holder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is contemplating a move up to the 168-pound super middleweight division next year, according to BoxingScene.com, and doing so would be a wise career move for the 26-year-old fighter.
Chavez Jr. suffered the first loss of his career last month to Sergio Martinez, and if he does not land a rematch with the 37-year-old champion, he wants to make the jump to 168 to face current super middleweight champ Andre Ward.
"I would like the rematch, I think would be a good fight. If not, I'll go up to 168, and there I'll develop to my full potential and I will be physically complete," Chavez Jr. said.
It is a well-known fact that Chavez Jr. balloons up from around 160 pounds at pre-fight weigh-ins the day prior to a fight, to 180-plus pounds the day of a fight.
The over 20-pound weight difference could be taking away from Chavez Jr. physically, affecting his performance in the ring.
If Chavez Jr. is affected by the big weight difference, we may not have seen the best Chavez Jr., something that could be scary considering Chavez Jr.'s record of 46-1-1 thus far in his career.
Even if Chavez Jr. does not land a fight with Ward right off the bat in the super middleweight division, there are more attractive fights at 168 pounds than there are left for Chavez Jr. at 160 pounds.
Some possible warm up fights for Chavez Jr. before Ward include such fighters as Arthur Abraham, Lucian Bute, Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch to name a few.
With the only reason to stay at middleweight being a Martinez rematch, moving up to the super middleweight division should be a no-brainer for Chavez Jr. going forward in his career.
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