Canelo def. Chavez Jr. via shutout decision: 5 biggest takeaways

4. Chavez actually gave an honest effort

Make no mistake, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was utterly outclassed on Saturday night in a cringe-inducing fight. He clearly didn’t belong in the ring with Canelo to the point where his inability to compete and win a second of any round has to be viewed as embarrassing. However, don’t confuse that with the false assumption that Chavez didn’t try.

Any fighter who gets up from his stool round after round and absorbs 228 hurtful punches without showing the slightest inclination to quit deserves at least a modicum of respect.

The problem for Chavez wasn’t that he gave up; rather, it was simply that he’s a fighter with marginal talent who was exposed against an actual elite fighter. For 12 rounds, Chavez was slowly tortured and completely devoid of ideas when it came to exploiting his size and alleged strength advantages. Maybe cutting so much weight was a factor, but that alone cannot account for the extent of this mismatch.

And yet, Chavez stood in there when he had to know — from as early as the opening couple of rounds — that he had absolutely no chance of winning, that Canelo, his bitter rival, was the type of fighter he could only dream of being. Chavez has been haunted by his legendary father’s accomplishments for his entire career, all while benefiting from its influence; last night, he dutifully absorbed the beating everyone knew was coming.