The date is now Feb 9th, 2008.  Or is it July 12th, 2008?  Hell it could very well be December 1st, 2007.  After tonight (March 28th, 2009) we are right back to where we were before Chavez-Vanda ll.  Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr fought Luciano Cuello in Tijuana tonight.  Another nameless yet undefeated opponent whom no one had ever seen fight before,  but a guy who no doubt came to fight.  Chavez, Jr won a unanimous ten round decision,  but again found himself giving as much as he was taking.  He boxed well in some rounds,  and in other rounds found himself in a brawl,  fighting on the inside and taking unnecessary punishment.  Very reminiscent of the fights mentioned above.  He seemed to tire,  he seemed to struggle,  and in the opinion of this boxing fan took another step back in his career.  While he did not need to fight on the inside,  he did so all night,  getting tagged with clean shots and even seemed to get rocked at times.  One can only wonder if he could takes those same shots by the James Kirkland’s or Alfredo Angulo’s of the world.  It isn’t all bad news though,  Chavez again had to show heart,  and he had to dig deep.  He fought well after being cut for the first time in his career.  The question was how will he react to tasting his own blood, the answer was just fine,  he passed that test.  To be fair to Chavez, Jr and not take anything away from his victory, or from Cuello’s performance,  Cuello showed he is a tough son of a gun.  Chavez, Jr barely got through that shell of a defense that Cuello has and when he did get through,  he took the shots pretty well.  Cuello also showed that he has heart and more punching power than his KO percentage would suggest.  So while it is safe to say Cuello turned out to be alot tougher than originally thought,  i’m not so sure it’s safe to say that Chavez, Jr is quite ready for the big time.  After the second Vanda fight I would have told you that he was ready for John Duddy,  stood a chance against Oscar De La Hoya,  and was ready to be a legit contender at 154.  But after tonight,  his defense was flawed again and he just didn’t fight his fight.  De La Hoya and Duddy were named tonight as future Chavez, Jr opponents,  and surprisingly,  believe it or not,  so was Manny Pacquiao.  Yes,  you heard it right,  Bob Arum would like to see the kid against El Pacman.  A fight that will surely result in Chavez, Jr’s first career defeat if it goes through and if he fights the way he did tonight,  February 9th, 2008,  July 12th, 2008,  and December 1st, 2007.  I grew up idolizing the great Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.  He was the reason I became a boxing fan and the reason my father and I will always have something to talk about,  but after tonight,  as much as I hate to admit it,  his son Jr will never amount to what his father accomplished in his career,  and he may never even become world champion.  And when I say world champion I don’t mean winning any one of the four major belts,  I mean becoming the lineal world champion.  Period.  A fight for the whole enchilada.  After five years of waiting for the moment I had always imagined to come will never be.  Jr, I hope that one day you prove me wrong.