Robert Garcia Explains Chavez Jr. Failing To Make Weight
By Miguel Rivera
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. once again came under fire by fans and media alike, after failing to make the contract weight for tonight's fight with Marcos "Dorado" Reyes in El Paso, Texas.
The fight was originally going to be at the super middleweight limit of 168-pounds. It was then announced as being at a max weight of 169. The weight was raised at some point to a max of 170-pounds when it became clear that Chavez would be unable to make 169.
At the weigh-in, Chavez came in at 170.8-pounds. Reyes, who is basically a middleweight, came in at 168.4-pounds. A deal was reached where Reyes received additional compensation and the fight moves forward. A few days ago, Reyes correctly predicted this exact scenario with Chavez.
This was the first bout where Chavez was being trained by veteran coach Robert Garcia, who also tasted some verbal fury from fans on social media. In the past, several of Garcia's fighters have struggled with the scale, including Brandon Rios, Mikey Garcia and Marco Antonio Rubio.
Chavez Jr. battled weight issues in several past fights, but he always made the contract limit by going through extreme weight cutting measures. Those methods eventually caught up with him, with three of his last four fights taking place around the light heavyweight limit.
Garcia says Chavez Jr. trained very hard for the contest with Reyes, and the inability to make weight was a error on their part. Chavez was weighed at the hotel room and their scale was apparently off by a pound. It left them with a false impression that Chavez was on weight.
"[
The entire situation] was more of a miscalculation with our scale in the room. It told us he weighed 169.8 pounds. That was wrong, because [at the weigh-in] he weighed almost a pound more, but he shouldn't have any problems [later tonight]. I think [something like this] affects you more mentally than physically," Garcia told ESPN Deportes.