Julio Cesar Chavez Carrasco was born on February 16th, 1986, to legendary boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Gonzalez and Amalia Carrasco. At the time, his father had already won fifty professional fights and had three successful defenses of his WBC super featherweight title. It wasn’t long before Julito started going with him to watch him fight, and the boy would be seen carried around the ring after his father’s victories. Early on, Julito developed a love for the sport, even though he didn’t completely realize the significance of his father’s ring presence.
Though the young Chavez was so fond of boxing, he never thought of becoming a boxer. Growing up, he played soccer, baseball and basketball and at one point even thought of becoming a professional baseball player.
During high school, Julio spent a year in Riverside, California, living with his mother, but longed to be back in Mexico. Not only did he want to go back to Mexico, but he had decided he wanted to box as well. At first, Julio Sr. was set against the idea of his son becoming a boxer, but Julio Jr. was even more determined. In a way, his whole life had been leading up to it, and he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more. With a little help from his uncle Rodolfo Chavez, who would become his manager, Junior was finally able to convince his parents to give him a shot. “Ten fights,” his dad said. He would let his son fight ten fights, as his own mother had allowed him to do, in order to see whether Julio Jr. had what it takes to make it in the ring.
Chavez Jr. successfully made his pro boxing debut in September of 2003 against Jonathan Hernandez. He was a bit disappointed that he won only be decision rather than by knockout, but he made up for it on the undercard of his father’s rematch with Willy Wise, on which he knocked out his opponent in just a minute and a half. Also on that card, younger brother Omar Chavez made his amateur debut in an exhibition bout.
The Chavez name opened a lot of doors for Junior. Fans flocked to see his fights, and to get an autograph or glimpse of his father, who was always sitting at ringside. The people loved and supported him in his new career. In just his fifth pro fight, Julito was already fighting on a card under Erik Morales and Jesus Chavez. After the ten fights his father had alloted him, there was no doubt that boxing was where Julio Jr. belonged.
The name and attention also helped Chavez Jr. to be recognized quickly by the World Boxing Council. In the September 2004 WBC ratings, he made his debut at #38 in the lightweight category just one year after he had entered the sport.
A Top Rank staple, Julito has appeared on a number of their pay-per-view cards since, as well as on Telefutura’s Sólo Boxeo and Azteca America. Chavez Sr. & Jr. have fought together on four cards since Junior’s pro debut as part of a farewell tour. It has given Chavez Sr. an opportunity to showcase his son to all the fans who have supported him throughout the years and to encourage them to support his son in the years to come.
However, Chavez’s last farewell fight (September 17 in Phoenix) ended prematurely when he reinjured his hand and had to quit between rounds against journeyman Grover Wiley. JC Jr., who had always dreamed about avenging his father’s loss to Oscar De la Hoya, saw this as a great opportunity, and a match between himself and Wiley was planed immediately.
Unfortunately, the match with Wiley was postponed until December and then postponed again, leaving JC Jr. to fight the unheralded Kevin Payne. However, there was a change of plans the week before the fight. Instead of Payne, Junior would be put up against “King” Carlos Molina–a much tougher opponent, whose record of eight wins and one decision loss was little indicator of his skill and ability.
On December 16th, Molina took Chavez Jr. the six-round distance for the first time and to the first blemish on his record. The decision was announced as a draw, and with many fans thinking he didn’t even deserve that much. The responsibility and expectations of the Chavez name became clear as the crowd booed him for not producing the knockout win. Wiley (who lost a convincing decision on the same night) was no longer on Junior’s mind; he had to have his rematch with Molina.
The rematch finally came on February 18th. Once again Molina lasted the six-round distance, but this time Chavez made it clear that he would have won had they had the opportunity to fight into the later rounds, possibly by knockout. The short fight resulted only in a majority decision, but it was enough to get Junior back on track with his career and focus on the future.
Junior finally got his match with Grover Wiley in June of 2007 and dominated the fight until it was stopped in the third round. With that done, he looks forward to his dream of someday fighting Oscar De la Hoya and defeating him. Chavez currently has a record of 38-0-1, with 29 KOs.