Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez González, also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was listed by The Ring magazine as the world's best boxer, pound for pound, from 1990 to 1993. During his career he held the WBC super featherweight title from 1984 to 1987, the WBA and WBC lightweight titles between 1987 and 1989, the WBC light welterweight title twice between 1989 and 1996, and the IBF light welterweight title from 1990 to 1991. He also held the 'Ring' magazine and lineal lightweight titles from 1988 to 1989, and the lineal light welterweight title twice between 1990 and 1996. Chávez was named Fighter of the Year for 1987 and 1990 by the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring respectively.
Chávez holds records for the most total successful defenses of world titles, most title fight victories, and most title fights ; he is tied for the second-most title fights wins by knockout, behind Joe Louis with 22. He also owns the longest undefeated streak in boxing history and the longest unbeaten streak in world title fights. His fight record was 89 wins, 0 losses, and 1 draw before his first professional loss to Frankie Randall in 1994, before which he had an 87-fight win streak until his draw with Pernell Whitaker in 1993. Chávez's 1993 win over Greg Haugen at the Estadio Azteca set the record for the largest attendance for a championship boxing match: 132,274.
He is ranked as the 17th best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by BoxRec, #24 on ESPN's list of "50 Greatest Boxers of All Time", and 18th on The Ring's "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". In 2010 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for the Class of 2011. He is the father of current boxers Omar Chávez and former WBC middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr.
Early life
Julio César Chávez was born on July 12, 1962, in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. His father, Rodolfo Chavez, worked for the railroad, and Julio grew up in an abandoned railroad car with his five sisters and four brothers. Chávez came from a poor family and became a boxer for money, he stated: "I saw my mom working, ironing, and washing people's clothes, and I promised her I would give her a house someday, and she would never have that job again." He began boxing as an amateur at the age of 16 and he then moved to Tijuana to pursue a professional career.Professional career
Chávez made his professional debut at age 17. In his 12th fight, on March 4, 1980, Chávez faced Miguel Ruiz in Culiacán, Sinaloa. At the end of the first round, Chavez landed a blow that knocked Ruiz out. Delivered as the bell sounded, the blow was ruled a disqualification in the ring and Ruiz was declared the winner. The next day, however, his manager, Ramón Felix, consulted with the Mexican Boxing Commission, and after further review, the result was overturned and Chávez was declared the winner.Super featherweight
Chávez won his first championship, the vacant WBC Super Featherweight title, on September 13, 1984, by knocking out fellow Mexican Mario "Azabache" Martínez at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Martínez had been the betting favorite in the bout, due partly to his previous victory over former WBC world champion Rolando Navarette in a non-title bout. On April 19, 1985, Chávez defended his title against number one ranked contender Ruben Castillo by knocking him out in the sixth round. On July 7, 1985, Chavez defeated former and future champion Roger Mayweather via a second-round knockout. On August 3, 1986, Chavez won a twelve-round majority decision over former WBA and future IBF Super Featherweight champion Rocky Lockridge in Monte Carlo. In his next bout, he defeated former champion Juan Laporte by a twelve-round unanimous decision. On March 18, 1987, he defeated number one ranked challenger Francisco Tomas Da Cruz by third-round knockout. He successfully defended his WBC Super Featherweight title a total of nine times.Lightweight
On November 21, 1987, Chávez moved up to the lightweight division and faced WBA Lightweight Champion Edwin Rosario. Prior to the bout, there were concerns about how Chávez would handle the move up in weight. Chávez commented, "Everything I've accomplished as champion, and the nine title defenses, would be thrown away with a loss to Rosario." The two fighters nearly exchanged blows during a press conference after Rosario threatened to send Chávez back to Mexico in a coffin. Chávez would ultimately give a career-defining performance as he defeated Rosario by an eleventh-round TKO to win the title. HBO Punchstat showed Rosario landing 263 of 731 punches thrown in the fight and Chavez 450 of 743. After the bout, Sports Illustrated ran the headline, "Time To Hail César: WBA Lightweight Champion César Chávez of Mexico may be the world's best fighter."On April 16, 1988, Chávez defeated number one ranked contender Rodolfo Aguilar by sixth-round technical knockout. On June 4, 1988, he won against former two-time champion Rafael Limón by scoring a seventh-round TKO. Later that year, he unified the WBA and WBC belts by a technical decision win over champion José Luis Ramírez. An accidental head-butt opened a cut on Ramírez's forehead and the doctor halted the fight, sending the decision to the judges' scorecards at that point in the fight. Chávez, ahead on all scorecards, was declared the winner. He was also awarded The Ring Lightweight title after the victory. Chavez vacated his WBA and WBC Lightweight titles in order to move up to the super lightweight division.
Light welterweight
In his next bout, he won the WBC Light Welterweight title by defeating Roger Mayweather for a second time. Mayweather did not come out of his corner after the tenth round, giving Chavez the TKO win. In 1989, Chávez defeated future champion Sammy Fuentes by tenth-round TKO. In his next bout, he handed Alberto de las Mercedes Cortes his first career loss by scoring a third-round knockout.Chávez vs. Taylor
On March 17, 1990, he faced Meldrick Taylor, the undefeated IBF Light Welterweight Champion, in a title unification fight. While Taylor carried the fight to Chavez through round 8, Julio rallied in the last four rounds. With about 30 seconds left in the 12th round, he landed a hard straight right hand on the chin of Taylor, which hurt him badly. Shortly thereafter, he knocked down the former Olympic gold medalist. Although Taylor rose at the referee's count of six, he failed to respond coherently to referee Richard Steele's questions after being issued a mandatory 8 count, and continued to hold onto the ropes in the corner, resulting in Steele stopping the fight with only two seconds remaining. Many boxing fans and members of the media were outraged that Steele would stop a match that Taylor was winning with only two seconds left, while others felt that Steele was justified in stopping the fight given Taylor's condition and the fact that he was unable to respond to Steele before the conclusion of the match. Steele defended his decision by saying that his concern is protecting a fighter, regardless of how much time is left in the round or the fight. As Steele put it, "I stopped it because Meldrick had took a lot of good shots, a lot of hard shots, and it was time for it to stop. You know, I'm not the timekeeper, and I don't care about the time. When I see a man that has had enough, I'm stopping the fight." The Ring named it the "Fight of the Year" for 1990 and later the "Fight of the Decade" for the 1990s. While many hoped for an immediate rematch, Taylor opted to move up in weight in his next bout and the fighters did not meet again until 1994, when Chávez dominated and knocked out a faded Taylor in eight rounds.After unifying the titles, Chávez engaged in a busy series of title defenses and non-title fights. On December 8, 1990, he defeated the WBC mandatory challenger Kyung-Duk Ahn by third-round knockout. On March 18, 1991, he defeated WBC number five ranked fighter John Duplessis by fourth-round TKO. On September 14, 1991, Chávez won a twelve-round unanimous decision over former champion Lonnie Smith. On April 10, 1992, he scored a TKO victory over number-one ranked contender Angel Hernandez in the fifth round. Later that year, he defeated Frankie Mitchell by fourth-round TKO.