Achievements...

• WBC middleweight world champion, three successful defenses
• Former WBC Silver middleweight champion, one successful defense
• Former WBC Latino super welterweight champion
• Former WBC Continental Americas super welterweight champion, one successful defense
• Former WBC Youth super welterweight champion

Professional Career Profile...

At the age of 26, Julio is an eight-year pro. The WBC middleweight world champion, he is the oldest son and namesake of the legendary “El Grande Campeon Mexicano” - former four-time world champion Julio Cesar Chavez, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on June 12, 2011.

Julio Jr. won the WBC middleweight world title in June, 2011, and has made three successful title defenses.

He is coming off a seventh-round TKO win against Andy Lee in his last fight on June 16th. It was Julio’s sixth fight working with trainer Freddie Roach.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com [excerpts]: The maturation of Chavez continued with this victory -- the best of his career -- in his third title defense. Chavez has beaten some solid opponents, including Sebastian Zbik to win a belt in June 2011 and Marco Antonio Rubio in a February defense. But Lee, in the view of many, was a grade better than those guys and many gave him an excellent chance to dethrone Chavez. That could be why Chavez seemed to take this fight more seriously than others.

Lee, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with his Hall of Fame trainer, Emanuel Steward, sure came to fight. This was the biggest opportunity of his career and he got off to a strong start, displaying a strong straight left hand and solid jab. It was a highly entertaining fight as the boxers exchanged a lot of clean, hard punches. The fourth round was nothing but action. Although Lee opened an early lead, Chavez, with a great chin and a thudding body attack, was always in the fight. He came on slowly but surely, and Lee began to break down.

Despite complaining to trainer Freddie Roach about leg cramps after the fifth round, Chavez was still relentless in his attack. The body shots were taking their toll, and in the seventh round he finally broke Lee. After taking several body shots, Lee backed into a corner and Chavez pounced. He landed several clean shots, including a flush right hand and a left hook. Lee nearly went down while Chavez continued to tee off until referee Laurence Cole intervened at the perfect time to end the fight at 2 minutes, 21 seconds, as the pro-Chavez crowd of 13,476 went wild.

Lee was ahead 58-56 on all three scorecards after the sixth round, but Chavez's pressure was impressive, as was his chin. Lee was certainly busier, but he just did not have the same kind of thunder in his blows that Chavez's more damaging punches did. [End Rafael item]

After Julio’s 12-round unanimous win against Marco Antonio Rubio on February 4, Fightwriter.com’s Graham Houston reported [excerpts]: Chavez has improved noticeably in the last year. He isn’t getting hit as much, he is showing the ability to move, and his punches are flowing more naturally. He can fight and he provides entertaining bouts, and that’s not a bad combination. [End Houston item]

Freddie Roach said, “Julio has total dedication in the gym. He’s never said ‘No’ to me. Whatever I tell him to do, he does. He’s working great.

“The thing is, when you don’t have the amateur experience, you’ve got to take the long road and you don’t fight a good level of competion at first. Most amateurs, it they have 150 or something amateur fights, they’ve learned their trade in the amateurs. You can move them up as a pro a lot quicker. So they moved him along in the correct manner. He’s taken those small steps up.”

Julio said through an interpreter, “Back in the day, I trained myself. I didn’t know anything about exercise or dieting or anything like that. My problem was always conditioning. If things had stayed the same, my career would have gone nowhere.

“Now, with Freddie, I follow the regimen and it’s changed everything drastically. You never realize what you’re capable of because without conditioning, you’re just relying on instinct. Now that my conditioning is good and I know that I won’t get tired, a lot more things, skill-wise, are starting to come out of me.”

When Julio was born in February, 1986, his father was 23 years old and had a professional record of 49-0. He had won the WBC super featherweight world title 17 months earlier and made three successful title defenses. Julio Senior first won WBC super lightweight world title at the age of 22 in his 44th pro fight.

Key Fights...

2012...

3rd WBC M WORLD TITLE DEFENSE: In his last fight on 6-16-12 in el Paso, TX, he TKOd left-handed Andy Lee (28-1) in a fast-paced and exciting fight. Lee started fast – he outworked Julio in the early rounds and built a lead on the scorecards, but Julio kept pressing forward. He landed the harder punches, scored repeatedly with body punches, and steadily wore him down. He trapped Lee on the ropes in the 7th round – Julio staggered him with a right hand to the chin, then rocked him with a series of punches – Lee slumped forward, out on his feet, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:21. After six rounds, Lee led by scores of 58-56 on all three scorecards.

2ND WBC M WORLD TITLE DEFENSE: On 2-4-12 in San Antonio, TX, he won a 12 round unanimous decision against WBC No. 1 ranked mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1). Rubio kept a busy pace and had a few rallies, but Julio pressed forward, consistently landed the harder punches, and dominated most of the fight. He repeatedly pushed Rubio back to the ropes and scored with series of hard body punches. Both fought hard until the final bell and had the fans on their feet; scored 116-112, 118-110, 115-113.

2011...

1ST WBC M WORLD TITLE DEFENSE: On 11-19-11 in Houston, TX, he TKOd Peter Manfredo Jr. (37-6). Manfredo gave a good effort, but Julio dominated the fight. He boxed and moved in the early rounds, but consistently outworked Manfredo, landed the harder punches, and steadily wore him down. Julio rocked Manfredo with a left hook in the 4th round, but Manfredo came back and bloodied Julio’s nose later in the round. Julio staggered Manfredo with a right hand in the 5th – he then rocked Manfredo with an unanswered series of punches, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:52.

WON WBC M WORLD TITLE: On 6-4-11 in Los Angeles, CA, he won a 12 round majority decision against previously undefeated defending champion Sebastian Zbik (30-0). In the close fight, Zbik started fast – he consistently outworked Julio in the early rounds and built a lead of the scorecards. Zbik won the first four rounds on one scorecard, and three of the first four on the other two, but Julio repeatedly landed hard body punches and steadily wore him down. Julio rallied in the middle rounds – he staggered Zbik with a right hand in the 5th round and swept the round on all three scorecards, won the 6th on two scorecards, then swept the 7th round and won the 8th on two scorecards. Zbik came back and swept the 9th round, but Julio finished the fight very strongly – he swept the 10th, 11th and 12th and won by scores of 115-113, 116-112, 114-114.

1ST WBC SILVER M TITLE DEFENSE: On 1-29-11 in Culiacan, MX, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against Billy Lyell (22-8). Julio consistently outworked Lyell, landed the harder punches, and rocked him several times; Lyell was cut over his left eye in the 6th round, and over his right eye later in the fight; scored 98-92, 99-92, 96-94.

2010...

WON VACANT WBC SILVER M TITLE: On 6-26-10 in San Antonio he won a 12 round unanimous decision against John Duddy (29-1). Julio was accompanied on his ring walk by his father, to thunderous applause. Duddy gave a very determined effort, but Julio dominated most of the fight - he boxed and moved well in the early rounds, then stood and slugged in the middle rounds and got the better of those exchanges, as well. Duddy rallied and staggered Julio with a right hand in the 6th round, but Julio came back and bloodied Duddy’s nose in the 7th, and finished the middle and late rounds strongly; scored 117-111, 120-108, 116-112.

2009...

On 11-14-09 in Las Vegas, NV, he had a 10 round no contest against Troy Rowland (25-2) in a fight was co-featured with the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto main event. The early rounds were close, but Julio rallied in the middle and late rounds - he consistently landed the harder punches, dominated most of the fight, and won a unanimous decision by scores of 99-91, 98-92, 97-93; but Julio tested positive for a diuretic after the fight, and the result was changed to “no contest”.

1ST WBC LATINO SW TITLE DEFENSE: On 9-12-09 in Tepic, MX, he TKOd Jason LeHoullier (21-1-1). Julio scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 1st round – it was the first time LeHoullier had been knocked down in his career. He got up, but Julio rocked him with a series of punches and the referee stopped the fight at 2:43.

WON VACANT WBC LATINO SW TITLE: On 3-28-09 in Tijuana, MX, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Luciano Cuello (23-0). The fight was a fast-paced, exciting battle, and very bloody; several rounds were close, and the momentum shifted back and forth. Julio pressed forward and scored with hard body punches in the early rounds. Cuello’s nose was bloodied in the 4th round, and Julio was cut over his right eye in the 6th round. Julio boxed and moved more in the middle rounds, but Cuello rallied late in the fight and won the 9th and 10th rounds on two judges’ scorecards; scored 97-93, 96-95, 96-94.

2008...

On 11-1-08 in Las Vegas he won a 10 round unanimous decision in the rematch against Matt Vanda (39-7). Julio dominated; he pressed forward, consistently outworked Vanda, and landed the harder punches; he was also very consistent throughout the fight, and finished the late rounds strongly; scored 99-91, 98-91, 97-93.

On 7-12-08 in Hermosillo, MX, he won a 10 round split decision against Matt Vanda (38-6). Julio started fast – he pressed forward, landed the harder punches, and scored effectively with body punches; but he tired badly in the middle rounds. Vanda rallied, and came on strongly in the late rounds – he rocked Julio several times in the 8th round, but Julio came back and fought hard in the 9th round. Both went all-out in the final round; scored 100-90, 97-93 Chavez, 96-95 Vanda.

1ST WBC CONTINENTAL AMERICAS SW TITLE DEFENSE: On 4-26-08 in Queretaro, MX, he knocked out previously undefeated Tobia Giuseppe Loriga (24-0-1). Julio dominated most of the fight; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 2nd round and scored repeatedly with hard body punches. Julio staggered Loriga with a right hand in the 9th round, then landed a series of punches that had Loriga out on his feet, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:47.

WON VACANT WBC CONTINENTAL AMERICAS SW TITLE: On 2-9-08 in Leon, MX, he TKOd lefthanded former three-time U.S. national amateur champion and 2000 Olympic alternate Jose Celaya (31-3). Julio scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 2nd round, and Celaya’s left eye became badly swollen. Celaya switched back and forth effectively between the lefthanded and righthanded stances in the following rounds, consistently outworked Julio, and appeared to build a lead on the scorecards, but Julio kept pressing forward, landed the harder punches, and gradually wore him down. Celaya’s left eye was swollen nearly shut by the 7th round, and he was cut over his right eye, as well. Julio scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 8th round - Celaya got up but motioned that he could not continue, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:14.

2007...

On 12-1-07 in Albuquerque, NM, he knocked out lefthanded hometown favorite Ray Sanchez III (20-1). Julio pressed forward and landed the harder punches, but Sanchez boxed and moved effectively and consistently kept a faster pace. Julio staggered Sanchez and bloodied his nose with a series of punches late in the 2nd round, but Sanchez came back and outworked him in the 3rd and 4th. Julio steadlily wore down Sanchez in the 5th round, then scored a knockdown with a series of punches midway throught the 6th, and Sanchez was counted out on all fours at 1:33.

On 8-4-07 in Rosemont, IL, he TKOd Louis Brown (15-2). Julio wore down Brown with body punches, and scored a knockdown with a body punch in the 4th round. He staggered Brown with a right hand in the 5th round and the referee stopped the fight at 2:42.

On 6-9-07 in New York, NY, he knocked out Grover Wiley (30-9-1). Wiley TKO’d Julio’s father in September, 2005, and sent him into retirement; Julio Jr. dominated; he scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body that dropped Wiley to his knees late in the 1st round. Julio scored two more knockdowns in the 3rd round, both with left hooks to the body, and Wiley was counted out at 2:27.

On 4-14-07 in San Antonio, TX, he knocked out Anthony Shuler (20-4-1). Julio was very impressive; he staggered Shuler early in the 2nd round, then scored two knockdowns – the first with a left hook that sent Shuler stumbling backwards to the seat of his trunks, the second with a left hook that put him flat on his back – and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 1:32.

On 3-9-07 in Hidalgo, TX, he TKOd Raul Munoz (18-10-1). Julio gave an impressive performance; he dominated the fight and scored a knockdown with a left uppercut late in the 2nd round; he scored a second knockdown with a series of punches in the 2nd, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:29.

2006...

On 12-16-06 in Culiacan, MX, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against Christian Solano (19-10-4). Solano fought very defensively, but Julio steadily wore him down and scored a knockdown in the 8th round.

On 9-23-06 in Hidalgo, TX, he TKOd Shad Howard (12-8-3). Julio wore down Howard with body punches, and he did not continue after the 3rd round. The Texas commission records it as a TKO at 0:10 of the 4th round...

WON VACANT WBC YOUTH SW TITLE: On 8-19-06 in El Paso, TX, he TKOd Jermaine White (14-1). it was Julio’s first scheduled 10-rounder. He weighed 147, but the WBC Youth welterweight title was already taken, so this bout was approved for the super welterweight title. Julio fought aggressively, dominated the fight, and wore down White; he scored a knockdown in the 4th round and the referee stopped the fight at 1:52. After three rounds, Julio led by scores of 30-27 on all three scorecards.

On 6-10-06 in New York he TKOd Aaron Drake (10-1). The fight was on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi main event. Julio scored a knockdown in the 2nd round that droppedut Drake flat on his back - he got up but was unsteady, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:53.

On 4-8-06 in Las Vegas he knocked out Tyler Ziolkowski (8-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweawther-Zab Judah main event. Julio stopped Ziolkowski at 2:40 of the 2nd round.

On 2-18-06 in Las Vegas he won a 6 round majority decision in the rematch against Carlos Molina (8-1-1). Molina started fast, but Julio rallied as the rounds progressed - he landed the harder punches and wore down Molina with body punches. Some observers thought the decision could go either way, and the announcement of the decision drew a mixed reaction from the crowd; scored 58-56, 58-56, 57-57.

2005...

On 12-16-05 in Monterrey, MX, he had a 6 round draw against Carlos Molina (8-1).

On 10-8-05 in Las Vegas he TKOd Jeremy Stiers (9-4). Stiers was game and determined, but Julio dominated the fight; he consistently outworked Stiers and wore him down with body punches. He rocked Stiers with a series of punches in the 5th round, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:45.

On 9-17-05 in Phoenix, AZ, he TKOd Corey Alarcon (12-10). the fight was on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.-Grover Wiley main event. Julio Jr.’s nose was bloodied in the 1st round, but he came back to score one knockdown in the 1st round and another in the 2nd, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:35. Julio Sr. was stopped in the 5th round of his fight against Grover Wiley, claiming an injured hand.

On 8-12-05 in Laredo, TX, he TKOd Jonathan Nelson (10-10). It was spectacular one-punch knockout - Julio scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 1st round that dropped Nelson flat on his back, and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 0:54.

On 6-25-05 in Atlantic City, NJ, he TKOd Ruben Galvan (21-6-2). Galvan gave a good effort, but Julio dominated the fight; he hurt Galvan with two left hooks to the body in the 1st round, and consistently landed the harder punches. Julio scored a knockdown with a series of punches in the 4th round and bloodied Galvan’s nose; Galvan got up, but Julio staggered him again, Galvan’s corner threw in the towel, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:22.

On 5-28-05 in Los Angeles he knocked out Adam Wynant (9-3-1). Julio scored a knockdown in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:42.

On 4-22-05 in Hidalgo he TKOd previously undefeated Travis Hartman (5-0-1). Julio scored three knockdowns in the 3rd round, Hartman’s corner threw in the towel, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:51.

On 3-19-05 in Las Vegas he TKOd Ryan Maraldo (17-15-1). Julio staggered Maraldo in the 2nd round - Maraldo was also cut under the left eye, and Julio was penalized one point for low blows in the round. Julio rocked Maraldo with a right hand late in the 3rd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:56.

On 2-11-05 in San Diego, CA, he knocked out Leroy Newton (5-5). Julio scored two knockdowns in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:11.

On 1-21-05 in Culiacan he knocked out Jose Cruz (2-0). Julio scored two knockdowns in the 2nd round, and Cruz was counted out.

2004...

On 12-18-04 in Culiacan he knocked out Eliseo Urias (0-2). Julio scored two knockdowns in the 2nd round, and Urias was counted out.

On 11-26-04 in Ciudad Juarez, MX, he TKOd Sheldon Mosley (1-6).

On 10-23-04 in Tucson, AZ, he TKO’d Michael Walker (5-5). Julio scored three knockdowns in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:21.

On 9-4-04 in Tijuana, MX, he TKOd Miguel Galindo (5-8) in the 4th round.

On 7-31-04 in Las Vegas he won a 4 round decision against Jason Smith (4-3). Julio bloodied Smith’s nose and mouth, and won by shutout scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards.

On 6-25-04 in Culiacan he TKOd Jose Huerta (debut) at 0:52 of the 2nd round.

On 5-22-04 in Mexico City, MX, he knocked out Antonio Aguilar (0-1). Julio scored two knockdowns in the 1st round, and Aguilar was counted out at 1:10.

On 4-24-04 in Tuxtla Gutierrez, MX, he knocked out Arturo Ocampo (1-4) in the 2nd round.

On 3-27-04 in Tijuana he knocked out Guadalupe Arce (0-13) at 2:06 of the 1st round.

On 2-28-04 in Las Vegas he won a 4 round unanimous decision against Oisin Fagan (4-1). He scored a knockdown in the 2nd round, and won by scores of 39-36, 39-36, 39-37.

On 1-29-04 in Houston, TX, he won a 4 round unanimous decision against Jose Luis Burgos (0-2): scored 40-36 on all three scorecards.

He debuted at the age of 17 on 9-26-03 in Culiacan and won a 4 round unanimous decision against Jonathan Hernandez (0-1).

 

Personal Background...

Julio said through an interpreter, “I was born and raised in Culiacan. I have two brothers, Omar and Cristian. I’ve lived in Culiacan my whole life except for one year when I lived with my mother in Riverside, California. That’s when I was 16.

“I went to the gym with my father as far back as I can remember – I must have been two years old at the time. I played almost every sport when I was little – soccer, basebell, tennis, just whatever was going on at the time.

“When I lived in Riverside, I had a friend that had a boxing gym here. I went there to train, and that’s when I started to take everything seriously.

“I didn’t have any amateur fights. I just boxed in a couple of exhibitions when I was about 12 or 13.” [NOTE: one of the exhibitions was against Jorge Paez Jr., the son or former IBF featherweight world champion Jorge “Maromero” Paez]

From chavez360.com [excerpts]: Julio Cesar Chavez Carrasco was born on February 16, 1986, to legendary boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Gonzalez and Amalia Carrasco. At the time, his father had already won fifty professional fights and had three successful defenses of his WBC super featherweight title. It wasn’t long before Julito started going with him to watch him fight, and the boy would be seen carried around the ring after his father’s victories. Early on, Julito developed a love for the sport, even though he didn’t completely realize the significance of his father’s ring presence.

Though the young Chavez was so fond of boxing, he never thought of becoming a boxer. Growing up, he played soccer, baseball and basketball and at one point even thought of becoming a professional baseball player.

At first, Julio Sr. was set against the idea of his son becoming a boxer, but Julio Jr. was even more determined. In a way, his whole life had been leading up to it, and he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more. Junior was finally able to convince his parents to give him a shot.

“10 fights,” his dad said. He would let his son fight 10 fights, as his own mother had allowed him to do, in order to see whether Julio Jr. had what it takes to make it in the ring. [End chavez360.com item]

Julio’s younger brother Omar is a pro welterweight; youngest brother Cristian does not box. Julio is single and has no children.

 

Fight Clips...