Julio Cesar Chavez

Author's note: This is a research paper on the life of the legendary boxer Julio Cesar Chavez. His life was a really a movie like feeling that deserves to be told. 

Born into a warrior family, Julio was born in 1962 in Obregon, Mexico, a small town with not much population. He was born into a family of 5 sister and 4 brothers and restricted by poverty with not much to live with. His father worked at the railroad tracks, which is where Julio lived a part of his life, in an abandoned railroad car. As he grew up, he was a very active kid playing volleyball and soccer right after school.

Around age 15 he started noticing that his family was not doing very well at all and desperate to buy his mother a new house, he decided to start amateur boxing. People noticed he had potential and heart and with that he turned pro at age 16. His Pro – Debut, he knocked out his opponent in the last seconds of the  1^st round and the ref called it an illegal punch stating it had been after the bell. He had been disqualified and considered his first loss. Immediately, Ramon Felix, his manager and the  boxing commission reviewed it and gave the win to Chavez; That was the start of an amazing career.

His First title shot was September 13, 1984 against a hard hitting Mario “Azabache” Martinez.  Martinez was the favored fighter, but with relentless punches Chavez knocked out the ex- champ.  As he moved up in weight class, he continued to dominate with an undefeated streak. On March 17, 1990, one of the biggest fights in boxing happened which finished in a very controversial ending.  Julio had been losing all rounds against the prime Meldrick Taylor, but he was wearing him out. In the last two seconds of the match Chavez knocked him down and Taylor got up but the fight was stopped with two seconds due to no response after he had been asked if he was O.K.  This win made Chavez a superstar everywhere, especially in his home town of Mexico.

Julio had been on an amazing, rare win streak of (87-0-1) when the unexpected had occurred. When he faced Frankie Randall, it was supposed to be an easy fight, but from the get go Frankie meant business. He knocked down Chavez for the first time in his career. He went on to lose and that perfect undefeated record left his grasp. Although Chavez had been helping out the community a lot by supplying food for the needed and donating to charity, he also had his downfall. He had started doing cocaine and became an addict. These actions projected through his fights, as he had not been performing at his peak. He felt very depressed and did not want to continue, but as all great champions do, he got on his feet and kept pushing forward.

His legacy had been built and it was time for him to retire, with a beautiful record of 107 wins 6 losses and 2 draws. The Chavez name however would not end there,  He had two leeches who never left his side and followed in his footsteps. His two sons Omar & Julio Cesar Chavez Jr seek to further the Chavez name and make their father proud. Although they have big shoes to fill, they show great potential with Julio having a 41-1 record at 26 years old. After all the blood, sweat, and tears put into the sport, Julio was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame on December 7^th, 2010 and his legacy was sealed for eternity.