Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Mexico's Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (right) lands a punch to the jaw of Louis Brown. The TKO of Brown in August in Rosemont, Ill., was Chavez's last fight before tonight's bout against Ray Sanchez III at Tingley Coliseum. Chavez Jr. is 33-0-1.

More Boxing

• Unifying belts on mind of title holder
• Mixed Martial Arts: Duke City fighter Condit whips challenger in front of hometown crowd, retain WEC crown
• Cibola High graduate Condit will defend fighting title in home town

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

As the son of one of the best to climb into a boxing ring, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is a marked man.

Because of his name, he has big gloves to fill.

Saturday night at Tingley Coliseum, the younger Chavez will have his name, boxing abilities and fortitude tested as he goes against Albuquerque's Ray Sanchez III.

It will be the roughest challenge the 21-year-old Mexican has faced.

His father, Julio Cesar Chavez, is a hero in Mexico and retired with a 107-6-2 record. Junior is trying to live up to a legend.

"I have a dream, and I'm not going to leave it in Albuquerque," the young Chavez says. "I know there will be a lot of pressure because of my name and who I am."

He's not showing any pressure. This week, he has been going about his business in a cavalier way. He is joking, smiling and having fun. With his boyish looks, he appears to be a young man who is preparing for a date with a cheerleader rather than a boxer facing a crucial fight.

At the same time, Sanchez is all business. He carries a serious look, almost of anger, as if someone had run over his dog earlier in the day.

"I love to fight," says Chavez. "I know the hard part is done."

Bob Arum, the president of Top Rank Inc., is the man who set up this bout. He got into boxing when some guy named Muhammad Ali asked him to manage his career about 40 years ago. Since then, he has been instrumental in the careers of a long list of world champions.

"Bloodlines are one thing in horse racing, but they don't necessarily translate in boxing," Arum says.

Chavez is 33-0-1 as a pro. Actually, he is 33-0-1 for his life, because he had no amateur bouts. Sanchez is 20-1, but had a long amateur career and won national amateur titles. He's probably had 100 fights in his life.

"When we started promoting Chavez Junior, he had absolutely no amateur experience and was raw. The only experience he had was watching his father," Arum says. "He is a work in progress. In his first fights, he blew people out and didn't get any real experience."

Until now.

"Ray Sanchez is the first real guy he's fought," Arum says. "Everybody else Chavez Junior has fought has come in simply as an opponent. Ray is coming in on his own merits. This is Chavez's first real test."

Chavez says he is all smiles before this bout because he is confident.

"I am very prepared," he says. "I have never been like this. I had a very good training camp."

The winner of this bout will take a giant step up in the rankings and in the level of competition.

"The winner probably will have an HBO ‘Boxing After Dark' fight against the guy who beat (Arturo) Gatti.

"Alfonso Gomez was the star in ‘The Contender.' Gatti retired after Gomez beat him," Arum says.

Sanchez, 24, says he'll be facing Gomez next and has the advantage over Chavez, 21, because of his extensive experience as an amateur. "I've dedicated 15 years to this, not four years, 15 years," he stresses.

"I don't see anything very distinguishing that shows all that experience," Chavez counters. "I think I have 14 more professional fights. I've seen more as a fighter."

And Chavez has spent most of his life watching one of the best to ever fight.

"I've seen him (Chavez Sr.) fight so many times, I incorporate some of that into my fights. I'm taller than he is, but we have some of the same style."

ET CETERA: The fights will be carried on Top Rank Pay-Per-View for $34.95. "This fight will be all over the world," Arum says. "We had a press conference in (Los Angeles) on Monday and there's a lot of interest there. It'll be in China, where we sold over 50 million for our last fight." . . . Four of the bouts will be televised with two-time world champion Jorge Arce (47-4-1) going against Medgoen Singsurat (48-4) of Thailand in the semi-main event. Ivan Calderon (29-0) will put up his World Boxing Organization junior flyweight title against Juan Esquer (20-1-1) of Navojoa, Mexico.