By Marcus Richardson: At 5’10”, Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KO’s) will be giving away a couple inches in height, three inches in reach and likely 10 to 20 pounds in weight to the 6’0” WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KO’s) in their fight next month on February 4th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The size factor is going to be the biggest problem for the 31-year-old Rubio, because he’s more than a match in terms of power, boxing skills and experience. But Chavez Jr. is a huge middleweight, not so much in height but in frame and in the ring weight. Facing a guy that could weigh as much as 180lbs by the time the fight starts on February 4th is going to be a tough task for Rubio.
Getting hit by a guy that outweighs you by 10 to 20lbs isn’t a pleasant experience and Rubio could have problems in this fight if he’s not able to get Chavez Jr. out of there quickly on February 4th. Chavez Jr. is too big to let him pound away like Rubio did with David Lemieux last year in beating him by a 7th round TKO.
That approach that Rubio used in that fight won’t work against Chavez Jr. because he’s a lot faster than Lemieux and won’t fade after only five rounds. Chavez Jr. does fade but it takes at least until the 10th before he becomes beatable.
Rubio will need to hit Chavez Jr. with some big shots to get him to start moving around the ring. Chavez Jr. used movement in his last fight against Peter Manfredo Jr., but wasn’t able to do it much without showing signs of tiring and needing to stop. If Rubio can hit Chavez Jr. with some big shots early in the fight, Chavez Jr. may elect to run and this in turn could cause him to wear down quicker.