PHOENIX – First, it was an injured hand. Then, it was a broken nose. So, what was it? Then, he blamed headbutts and elbows. He blamed the referee.
Then, Julio Chavez Jr. apologized to the fans, but not for his own performance, or the litany of confusing excuses, or anything else throughout a chaotic week that ended in unforgiving fans outraged at his decision not to continue after the fifth round.
They erupted, throwing cups of beer, cans, bottles and chairs. The debris was their answer to Chavez Jr.’s apology. They’re not buying it, not any of it. It was an ugly response. There were no winners at Talking Stick Arena, other than a classy Danny Jacobs, who rose above the outrage and the debris.
If anybody is owed an apology, it’s Gabe Rosado, who was on the card as a potential substitute for Chavez Jr. Not long after Chavez Jr. played the blame game in an interview with DAZN and not long after the last bit of garbage had been swept from a floor still slick and sticky from stale beer, Rosado was in the ring, fighting Humberto Ochoa. Rosado won a decision. But who knew?
The arena was empty, cleared by security nervous about a full-blown riot. The mob was gone. In a back room, promoter Eddie Hearn and Jacobs talked to the remaining reporters who had come out from underneath their work tables near ringside.
Chavez Jr. was long gone. Trainer Freddie Roach later said his fighter was in a Phoenix hospital, undergoing surgery for a fractured nose. Nothing about the hand. Then, a photo was posted on social media of Julio Chavez Sr., the iconic dad at his son’s bedside. It was posted as way to confirm that he was in fact hurt.
But questions continue to swirl, mostly because more than a nose got broken Friday night. Chavez Jr.’s credibility is broken beyond repair.
Chavez Jr. tried to explain away the defeat, saying Jacobs got away with dirty tactics.
“I was getting close, but got headbutted above the left eye,’’ Chavez said to DAZN. “Then, I had problems because of all the blood. I came over to the corner and couldn’t breathe. He elbowed me, and headbutted me. Very tough fight. I felt I couldn’t go, cause I couldn’t breathe properly. The ref wasn’t calling anything.”
But it was clear what had happened. A crisp right hand, Hearn would say later, from Jacobs and blood immediately began to drip from Chavez’s nose. It was there, on video that played and re-played. Then, there was the eye. Chavez had been complaining to Jacobs. Jacobs listened and then looked up at video after the fight and saw that his right hand landed, cutting Chavez Jr. above the eye late in the fourth.
Still, Chavez Jr. looked for excuses. They worked before. They had worked all week. On Tuesday, Chavez Jr, got an injunction from a Nevada judge, allowing him to keep a pending Arizona license he needed for the fight. Then, he missed weight at 172.7 pounds. He was nearly five over the contracted 168, which was more than enough to know he never intended to make weight. No problem, he bought his way back into the fight by re-negotiating the deal. The bout would be at 173 pounds instead of 168. It cost him $1 million. But it looked like it was an investment that would allow him to get even bigger by opening bell.
He was huge.
“I felt like Roy Jones Jr against John Ruiz,’’ Jacobs said, recalling Jones’ victory for a heavyweight title in March 2003.
From weight to money, Chavez Jr. had all the advantages. But he had run out of cheap excuses. Fans, who had heard them for years, heard them again all over again. Deja-boo. By fight time, their deep well of patience for Chavez was exhausted. Instead, there was an edgy sense of betrayal
For years, Chavez Jr. could do no wrong. For years, there was faith that he would eventually fulfill a destiny that is apparently tied to his name.
For the fans, it was an expectation. For Chavez Jr., it was an entitlement. Now, however, there is only exasperation, which was expressed badly. The fans should apologize, too. But it’s a violent game in the ring and often in the crowd. You’ll hear no apology from them, mostly because they’ve had it. Faith in Chavez also got broken beyond repair Friday night. It was a violent goodbye from the fans who won’t forgive, forget or be back.
“I’d love to have a rematch,’’ Chavez Jr. told DAZN.
Little late for that. Any chance of a rematch with those fans is gone. That’s really what was in all of that debris Friday night.