Thoughts On Chavez Jr. and Father & Son Teams
by
Buster Paris
3/29 - Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He’s 19 years old. His professional record is 17 wins and no losses. 70% of his wins by KO and his father is boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez. I can’t help but wonder what kind of career this kid is going to have. You have to figure that when he was born the doctor smacked his bottom and Jr. countered with a hard left hook.
Chavez’s more recent opponent was Ryan Maraldo. This was a bout on the under card of the March 19 2005 Morales-Pacquiao fight.
Maraldo fighting out of Avon Indiana (17 wins, 15 losses and 1 draw and looking every bit like a Ryan from Indiana) entered the arena first, wearing an old beat up white t-shirt and looking bewildered and lost in the bright lights of Las Vegas Nevada and as he stood there looking around at the enormity of the crowd you couldn’t help but romanticize how great it would be if Ryan beat the son of a legend…the stuff movies are made of.
When Julio Cesar Chavez Jr entered the ring and removed his robe, he reminded me a little of Tommy Hearns – well – he reminded me of one of Tommy’s legs. He’s super long and super thin.
I like that his father Julio Cesar Chavez Sr is part of the entourage. It’s a neat scene to see. It reminds me of Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas or George Bush Sr. and Dubya – a father son team, son following in the fathers’ footsteps. It’s really nice to see and makes me feel hopeful for Chavez Jr. and Sr. This kids career potentially has the makings of something very special. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a “Smokin’” Joe and Marvis Frazier type of deal.
For those of you wondering what I mean about the Frazier’s - I think that Marvis was doing fine without Joe managing and training him and once Joe took over he changed Marvis’ style to reflect his own which wasn’t right for Marvis and Joe brought him up a little too quickly. It’s somewhat a controversial line of thinking, but I tend to agree that no way should Frazier have fought an up and coming Mike Tyson in 1986.
Interestingly if you look at Marvis Frazier’s record it’s pretty impressive. 19 wins and 2 losses. The losses are nothing at all to be ashamed of as they were to Larry Holmes (1983) and Mike Tyson (1986). Frazier to his credit beat Joe Bugner (as did his father), James “Quick” Tillis and James “Bonecrusher” Smith (very impressive and a very close bout)
There have been other father son teams in boxing as well, here’s just 5 off the top of my head:
* Lenny & Ray Mancini
* Floyd Mayweather (Sr. & Jr.)
* Hector Camacho (Sr. & Jr.)
* Leon & Corey Spinks
* Bill & “Buster” Douglas (great name by the way)
I’m hoping things will go well for the Chavez men. I’m hoping things go more like the Mancini’s, Spink’s and Mayweather’s (minus the drama) than that of the Frazier’s or even the Douglas family.
Oh – for those of you wondering how the March 19 2005 fight went - there was nothing really memorable about Julio’s performance. It was a good fight. Chavez dominated the entire bout and when referee Toby Gibson finally and mercifully stopped the fight in the 3rd round Ryan looked tired, swollen, cut and bloody. Definitely looked like a Ryan heading back to Indiana with his 4th loss in a row and a record now of 17 wins and 16 losses.
I think Maraldo will have a great story to tell. He’s a got a handful of fights left in him, maybe 5 to 10. He’ll be a starting opponent for the new litter of up and comers and he’ll be able to tell his grandkids some day that he fought the son of a legend – or even that he himself fought a legend.
Hey let’s also not forget about the possibility of 2026’s professional debut of Ray “The Marauding” Maraldo Jr.
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