Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. wins middleweight title

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.