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Chavez believes he still has fight left
More than 25 years after he made his professional debut with a knockout, Julio Cesar Chavez steps through the ropes for his 114th fight Saturday night. The 42-year-old Chavez faces Ivan Robinson, a one-time contender who is just 3-6-2 in his last 11 fights dating back to April of 2000. The bout is billed as Chavez's "Adios" to Los Angeles.
Chavez, who has fought a total of 607 rounds since turning pro in 1980, is winding down his career. He will take a 106-5-2 record, with 88 knockouts, into the scheduled 10-round super lightweight bout at Staples Center. He has held titles in the junior lightweight, lightweight and super featherweight divisions. Robinson, 34, is 32-9-2, with 12 knockouts. Neither fighter has been very active in recent years. Chavez, from Culiacan, Mexico, has fought only four times over the past four years, with his lone loss during that span coming when he was stopped by Konstantin Tszyu in Phoenix in 2000. Chavez's most recent bout was a 10-round decision over Frankie Randall in Mexico City on May 22, 2004. Robinson, whose main claim to fame is a pair of decisions over Arturo Gatti in 1998, has fought only twice since 2003. He lost to Reginald Nash last year, then took a six-round decision over Tyrone Winckler on Feb. 18. "Julio Cesar Chavez is definitely a legend. I'm honored to be in the same ring with him," Robinson said. "But don't sell me short. We're going to do what we came here to do." Chavez is guaranteed $200,000, and Robinson will get $60,000. The card also features 19-year-old Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Unbeaten in 18 bouts, with 13 knockouts, he will face Adam Wynant in a scheduled six-round lightweight bout before his father comes on for the main event. Wynant, from Indianapolis, is 9-3-1, with three knockouts. Chavez's son said he didn't always think he would follow in his father's footsteps. "I have always liked to box, even when I was very small. But I never thought I would become a professional fighter," Chavez Jr. said through a translator. "When we were young, we saw all the attention our father got, but we never really understood how big it really was until we got older." He said he is proud of his father and happy to be fighting on the same card. "It's very special. I'm very excited to be involved in a farewell fight for my father in Los Angeles," the young Chavez said. "And it's a great opportunity for me to impress everybody in Los Angeles and I'm sure I will do that." His father, who knocked out Andres Felix in the sixth round in Culiacan on Feb. 5, 1980 to begin his long and successful career, went on to win 31 title fights. He lost three times and fought to draws twice when a championship was on the line. Also on the card is a 12-round IBF bantamweight title match between champion Rafael Marquez of Mexico City and Ricardo Vargas of Tijuana, Mexico; and a 12-round WBC super featherweight elimination bout pitting Carlos Hernandez of West Covina, Calif., against Jesus Chavez of Austin, Texas.
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