Julio Cesar Chavez Jr returns from defeat with points win
Sunday 19 July 2015 17:56, UK
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr bounced back from his second career defeat with a points victory over fellow Mexican Marcos Reyes in El Paso, Texas.
Chavez was booed by the crowd as he laboured to victory and blamed his lacklustre display on a hand injury picked up during the 10-rounder.
The former WBA middleweight champion, who had failed to make the contracted 168lb super-middleweight limit during Friday’s weigh-in, secured victory thanks to a 97-92, 98-91, 96-93 verdict.
“I can do it better, but I won and that is the important thing. I'm going to fight at 168 pounds. Little by little, I'm going to get down in weight. We know we're doing much better work in the gym.
"In the third round I hurt my left hand. I think it's broken, I don't know. I'll see the doctor. With all respect to Reyes, if I hadn't hurt my hand I would have knocked him out.”
Reyes, 33-3, who was clearly the smaller fighter, disagreed with the verdict.
“I feel I won the fight. I showed him how I box. I made the weight at 168 and he didn't make weight. He's like a light-heavyweight fighting a middleweight.
"I was against all odds - the referee, the weight, everything. I think I won the fight. He came in at like 200 pounds. I was at 174, just a few pounds from what I weighed yesterday. It's OK - I did my best."
