However good (or not so good) it turns out that Chavez is, he makes fun fights, and this was an example. The son of the legendary Mexican icon -- Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., who was ringside -- joined his Hall of Fame father by winning a belt in June when he outpointed Sebastian Zbik. It was a paper title, to be sure, one that rightfully belongs to legitimate champion Sergio Martinez, who was stripped by two alphabet organizations. But Chavez's fans don't seem to care. Whatever you think of his title, at least Chavez, 25, entertains when he gets into the ring. Manfredo, a native of Providence, R.I., who turns 31 on Saturday, does the same thing.
While Chavez was born with the silver spoon in his mouth, Manfredo is as blue-collar as it gets. A laborer by day, Manfredo got his big boxing break in the first season of "The Contender" reality series, which he parlayed into a title shot against then-super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe in 2007. Manfredo was stopped in the third round and has had his ups and downs since, but he put together a six-fight winning streak since a knockout loss to Sakio Bika in 2008 to get the shot at Chavez in his first defense on HBO's "Boxing After Dark." Manfredo, a considerable underdog, looked a bit smaller and had less zip on his punches. Chavez boxed a little more than he normally does -- perhaps that is something trainer Freddie Roach has been working on with him -- and built up a clear lead in the first few rounds.
By the third round, Manfredo's right eye was beginning to swell as Chavez landed several solid right hands. In an action-packed fourth round, Chavez was banging Manfredo around before the challenger mounted a comeback to land his own shots and bloody Chavez's nose. But in the fifth round, Chavez staggered Manfredo with a clean right hand and sent him reeling. Instead of taking a knee or trying to hold, Manfredo's heart got the better of him and he tried to fight his way out, but Chavez continued to throw punches. Although he was not landing much cleanly, Chavez was emptying his tank and landing just enough with Manfredo not throwing enough back to cause referee Laurence Cole to jump in and stop it at 1 minute, 52 seconds. Was Manfredo losing? Yes. Might he have gone down? Yes. But there have been better stoppages. Many of Chavez's shots were missing and Manfredo was not out of it and was attempting to hold just as the fight was being stopped. If anything, Cole is inconsistent. He let Antonio Margarito take a monstrous beating from Manny Pacquiao for 12 one-sided rounds a year ago, and now all of a sudden he jumps in to stop this fight at the first sign of trouble?
Stoppage aside, all in all, this was a good performance from Chavez. Martinez was ringside, but do not count on Top Rank making that fight. Bob Arum and his staff know Chavez is not in that league, at least not yet. Chavez could potentially wind up facing the winner of the Dec. 3 Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito rematch, which would be massive to the Mexican public. There is also the much-talked-about possible showdown with fellow Mexican star and junior middleweight titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who defends his title on Saturday. Eventually, Chavez figures to be in a big fight. Manfredo said before the fight that a loss would probably mean the end of his career. And after the fight, even though Manfredo was not happy with Cole's stoppage, he announced his retirement. "Obviously, I thought the fight should have continued," he said. "It did not, so that was it, my last time in the ring. I now have to go out there and get a real job."
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