Points win for Chavez

Julio Cesar Chavez won a unanimous decision over Marco Antonio Rubio to retain his WBC middleweight title.

Champion rarely troubled in front of big crowd in Texas

Julio Cesar Chavez won a unanimous decision over fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio to retain his WBC middleweight title in Texas. The judges scored the bout 118-110, 116-112, 115-113 in favour of Chavez to a mixed reaction from the 14,210-strong crowd at San Antonio's Alamodome. Neither fighter managed a knockdown despite trading heavy blows to the head and body for the duration of the 12-round contest. Chavez was the dominant man throughout, with Rubio only really suggesting he could pull off an unlikely win in the sixth. But even then, Chavez finished the round with a good flurry of blows and then started to use his weight to wear down his opponent in the seventh, with a good exchange on the ropes bringing the crowd briefly to life. Chavez used his jab to good effect in the next three rounds and although Rubio rattled his opponent with a couple of good uppercuts in the 11th, the champion was able to recover and go on to take the verdict.