Terra

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Julio César Chávez Jr. didn’t arrive at the Wynn Hotel in a limousine like his opponent; he arrived on a bus along with a team of trainers and members of his entourage. His father, a living legend in the boxing world, and Freddie Roach, his trainer, led the pack.

One of Junior’s trainers disembarked displaying the mythical green belt which denotes a world champion just ahead of Julio Cesar, who slowly stepped out of the bus and into a throng of fans and journalists which made it practically impossible for him to get into the glamorous Vegas hotel.

In contrast to his opponent, Chavez Jr. was dressed informally, with a red T-shirt and shoes and without ever taking off his sunglasses.

The Culiacán native told Terra that he came to bust-up Sergio Martinez’s mouth because the Argentine had talked too much trash before the fight. Even so, he recognized the virtues of his rival, but said he had no doubt about his own capacity to win the fight.

He doesn’t believe a knockout is necessary to gain the respect of those who don’t believe the son of a legend has beaten any worthy opponents as of yet, but recognizes that this fight could represent a seminal moment in his career, because of the caliber of his opponent.

Chavez Jr. went on to say that he is perfectly conditioned and didn’t agree with the theory that he had an advantage over Martinez because he was ten years younger. “Martinez keeps in impeccable condition; age won’t be the difference in this fight, the Argentine is very disciplined and is well prepared.”

The world champion middleweight assured that September 15 is Mexican Independence Day, not Argentina’s, but that the support of his public wouldn’t provide any advantage because he was only focused on the fight and his rival and that the crowd would be only background noise. Still, at the end of the fight, when the winner is announced, Mexico would be able to yell and cheer, “Viva Mexico!”

Chavez Jr. always spoke in a measured tone, without overly reacting to any question, even when his record and the validity of his title were called into question. He only responded by saying he’s had to take and dish out a lot of punishment to get to where he has in his career.

The boxer went on to say that he would be cool and calm when he gets into the ring next Saturday, explaining that the trash talk his opponent engaged in during the run-up has served to keep him motivated to train with fury, but nothing more.

He acknowledged that if he wanted to beat Martinez he would have to have the best fight of his career.

Finally, he said that he learned something new from his father and trainer Roach every day because they were “two legends and encyclopedias of boxing and life, and I always listen to them,” but at the end of the day, it was he who would get into the ring and the only one with the responsibility to win the fight and once and for all win the respect of the boxing world.