Julio César Chávez, Jr.

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Julio César Chávez Carrasco (born February 16, 1986), known in the English-speaking world as Julio César Chávez, Jr., is a Mexican boxer, the son of legendary boxing champion Julio César Chávez González and then-wife Amalia Carrasco. Chávez Jr. was born when his father was the WBC world Junior Lightweight champion.

His face bacame known to boxing fans when his father would take him and his brother into the ring as children, before each of Chávez Sr.'s fights. As a teenager, Chávez Jr. endured some difficult moments, including a publicized relationship between his father and actress Salma Hayek and the consequential divorce of his parents.

Chávez Jr. lived in relative obscurity until he announced that he would follow in the footsteps of his father and become a boxer. After a relatively short amateur career, he began to box professionally. Many of his fights have been held during boxing programs that have been headed by his father; he has also been featured on the undercards of many major pay-per-view fights (rare for an up-and-coming fighter, but not unexpected in his case given his father's fame). He is considerably taller than his father (5 feet 10.5 inches) and, even for being age 20, is extremely boyish-looking (he claims not to have to shave).

[edit] Career

On September 26, 2003, Chávez Jr. began his professional career, outpointing Jonathan Hernandez over six rounds in Chávez Jr.'s native Culiacan.

On November 22 of that year, he followed up his first win with his first knockout win: in his second fight, he beat Eugene Johnson in the first round, at Centro de Espectaculos, Tijuana, Baja California.

Only two weeks later, on December 5, he had his first fight abroad, when he defeated Gerardo Penaflor by a four round unanimous decision, in Houston, Texas, United States.

Chávez Jr. set a fighting pace that was reminiscent of Chávez Sr.'s own pace when the latter was a younger man: in 2004, he fought eleven times, not having a fight only in August during that year:

On January 29, he beat Jose Luis Burgos, once again in Houston by a four round decision.
On February 28, he made his Las Vegas debut by outpointing Oisin Fagan over four rounds.
On March 27, he returned to a Mexican ring, knocking out Guadalupe Arce, who had a record of 0-8, in the first round at Tijuana.
On April 24, he beat Arturo Ocampo by knockout in the second round, at Tuxtla Gutierrez.
On May 22, he made his debut at Mexico City's famed Plaza de Toros (where his father held many of his most famous fights), when he knocked out Antonio Aguilar in the first round.
On June 26, he beat Jose Luis Huerta by a second round knockout in Culiacan.
On July 31, he outpointed Jason Smith over four rounds in Las Vegas.
On September 4, he knocked out Miguel Angel Granado in four rounds at Tijuana.
On October 23, he defeated Mike Walker in the first round at Tucson, Arizona.
On November 26, he beat Sheldon Mosley, also by knockout but in five rounds; at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
Finally, on December 18, he finished his year boxing-wise by beating Eliseo Urias at the Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa (Sinaloa Autonomous University) in Culiacan.

During 2005 he would slow down the pace only slightly, fighting seven times:

On February 11, 2005, Chávez Jr. defeated Leroy Newton by a first round knockout at the convention center in San Diego.
On March 19, he scored his first Las Vegas knockout win, defeating Ryan Maraldo in 3 rounds.
On April 22, he defeated Travis Hartman by a third round knockout in Hidalgo, Texas.
In May of that year, he and his father were featured on a dual interview that was shown on Telemundo's United States branch, on the television show Aqui y Ahora. Two weeks after that interview, on May 28 Chávez Jr. knocked out Adam Wynant in Los Angeles, after only 42 seconds of round one had gone by.
His next fight, on August 12, lasted only twelve seconds longer, as he beat Jonathan Nelson after only 54 seconds of round one at Laredo, Texas.
On September 17. he defeated Corey Alarcon by a second round knockout as part of his father's last fight's undercard, in Phoenix, Arizona.
His next fight would have taken place November 12 when he was to fight Grover Wiley, the man who defeated his father in Chávez Sr.'s final bout. However, that fight did not take place, and Chávez Jr. made two fights instead:
- On October 10, he knocked Jeremy Stiers out in five rounds at Las Vegas.
- On December 16, he was held to a six round draw (tie) by Carlos Molina in Monterrey, Mexico, the first non-win of his career.

Chávez Jr. and Molina had a rematch, on February 18, 2006 at Las Vegas, with Chávez Jr. obtaining a close six round majority decision (two scores of 58-56 and a score of 57-57).

As of September 23rd, 2006 Chávez Jr. has a record of 29 wins, no losses and 1 draw, with 22 wins by knockout. He is listed as a junior welter (140 lbs).