By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán & President of the WBC
Julio César Chávez was born in a train wagon in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora into a humble and large family that eventually settled in Culiacan, Sinaloa.
He was a great athlete in his childhood, a good ballplayer, also a soccer player, and he even excelled at volleyball. His brothers boxed, and he used to go to see them at the gym, having no interest in this sport, until one day a bully picked a fight with him, and Julio kicked his ass.
“El Zurdo” López took him on as his first trainer, and Ramón Félix as his manager, welcoming him to the gym, and then developing one of the most formidable careers in boxing history.
Julio started his professional career after a very brief 14-fight stint as an amateur. He frequently fought in Culiacán and Tijuana, and in so doing, he was assuredly gaining his ranking in the World Boxing Council. Conquering the stage in California, USA, he managed to reach number six.
Azumah Nelson vacated The WBC world super featherweight championship, and my dad, José Sulaimán, made the decision to order the most feared fighter in the division, number one challenger Mario “Azabache” Martínez, against the undefeated but relatively unknown youngster Julio César Chávez.
Chavez had fled with his girlfriend Amalia to get married. They were in a motel when police cars came looking for him. The couple thought the worst, but no, it was Ramón Félix who mobilized everyone to find him, because the news had arrived that he was fighting the world title in just five weeks … so the honeymoon had to wait.
On September 13, 1984, Jimmy Lennon Jr. made his debut as a ring announcer; that was his first world championship fight, because his dad was at another show in New York, so Jimmy took the stage and also Jimmy’s Hall of Fame career began on that night.
Azabache Martínez entered the ring as the overwhelming favorite, but to everyone’s surprise, the fresh faced wonderkind overwhelmed him, forcing the Referee to stop the fight in the eighth round. The legend was born.
Julio Cesar was a unique boxer in many ways. Of his 115 professional fights, 37 were for the world championship, which is a Guinness Record. His loyalty to the World Boxing Council was exemplary. Of those 37 world title contests, 35 were WBC.
After defending his super featherweight championship 10 times, overcoming many problems making the weight, a great opportunity presented itself. Don King called on him to be the main event at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, against Edwin “El Chapo” Rosario.
The problem was that Rosario was champion of another organization. Julio called Don José and asked his permission to take such fight as a great opportunity to develop his career, and my father immediately supported him so that his career could progress. This is how Julio conquered his second championship at lightweight. After this he returned home with the lightweight world championship and fought against his dear friend and compadre, José Luis Ramírez.
Julio eventually moved up to super lightweight, where he spent much of his career. He unified the crown against Meldrick Taylor in which he signified his brilliance as the best in the world, pound-for-pound, in a dramatic fight that he was losing on the Judges’ cards, but with his indomitable warrior’s willpower, he knocked out the American with only two seconds left to go.
Then he neutralized the brash bravado of his verbose arch-rival Héctor “Macho” Camacho by beating him over 12 rounds, in a showcase classic which all of Mexico relished. From that fight on, El Ángel de la Independencia in Mexico City was surrounded by hosts of fans every time Julio stepped into the ring.
Another historic event was when Julio engulfed the Azteca Stadium with more than 136,000 spectators, a Guinness Record that still stands today. He TKOd Greg Haugen in five irresistible one-sided rounds.
Julio tried to win a fourth championship, but drew against Pernell Whitaker at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and after that, little by little, his career took a downward curve, in sports and in his life as well. He finished his career with an extraordinary 107 wins, six losses and two draws.
Did you know?
The greatest triumph of Julio’s life continues to be enjoyed day after day. He has now been completely sober for 13 years, and dedicates himself to helping people who need to overcome the demons of addictions, in his two rehabilitation clinics called “Baja del Sol”. The great Mexican champion shows a passion, empathy and his humanity in helping thousands of people recover and reclaim their lives.
Miriam came into his life as a blessing. She is his companion, his adoration and the joy of his life. She is a wonderful woman who walks with and beside Julio.
This past Tuesday, July 12, Julio Cesar Chavez celebrated his 60th birthday, and he was accompanied by friends, champions and admirers in a wonderful event. The Peña brothers, who have been instrumental in his recovery and success in his new life, were in attendance; José Carlos Montibeller, who accompanies Julio in new challenges and dreams, gave him a celebration as he deserves; in addition, to also celebrate his own birthday, the 60/30 party.
Many dear people accompanied him: Yolanda Andrade, “El Hijo” del Santo, Carlos Mercenario, Miguel Cotto, Jesús Mena, Fernando Platas, Pablo González, Edith Márquez, “La Chiquita” González, Pipino Cuevas, Fernando Beltrán, Oswaldo Kuchle, Pepe Gómez, as well as many friends of the media such as José Luis Camarillo, Rodolfo Vargas, Salvador Rodríguez, Antonio Rosique, Diego Martínez, Alfredo Dominguez Muro, and others.
Videos with heartfelt messages were shown from Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Durán, Canelo Álvarez, Eddy Reynoso, and even the influencer, Abdu Rozik.
My family was present to celebrate with Julio, to pay tribute to our great idol and our friend. My brother Héctor and sister Lucy, my nephews Pepe Toño and Andrés, and of course, my wife Christiane, and our sons José and Mauricio.
Today’s anecdote:
Julio was like a son for my dad. Don Jose adored him; he enjoyed his triumphs to the fullest and suffered due to his personal and addiction problems. My brother Héctor always remembers when he was with Don José as the super featherweight title became vacant, and my dad ordered Chávez’s fight against El Azabache, and Héctor reproached him, saying that he was going to hurt him. “You don’t know what you’re saying my son, that kid is a great fighter; I’ve seen him, when the bell rings he transforms into a punching whirlwind. It will be a very worthy fight and I don’t doubt Julio will win.”
Julio visited my dad several times when we were in intensive care at the UCLA Los Angeles hospital. The last time was on December 29, 2013, a little before Don José left us. I will never forget that moment when my father saw Julio with a big smile and told him: “My dear Julio, I am the happiest man in the world to see you clean and sober. You will forever be my greatest battling champion. Now you can walk tall with dignity through the streets with the adoration of the people for everything you have achieved. Keep it up, my dear Julio.”
I appreciate your feedback at [email protected].
Chavez brought us great entertainment for years on HBO and Showtime long before the greedy networks exist today. Chavez had an unrelenting style of hunt and stalking all while continually chopping down his opponents with various punches. One of the best matches I enjoyed watching was when Taylor and Chavez went to war in their first fight. Wow! I had Taylor ahead on the cards until Richard Steele stopped it. Chavez was outgunned against Pernell Whitaker and clearly lost in my opinion only to be saved by political draw. I am sure the judges were paid off at the time.
Pernell was such a blear winner over Chavez. I agree with you on the judges.
I read something interesting in “Don” Mauricio’s diatribe, where Julio asks permission from “Don” Jose to fight a champion from a different organization. It is so simple now. WBC champions, if you want unify belts, just call Donny and tell him you want improve your skills If you are a WBA champion champion, don’t call”Don” Gilberto. Bring a big moneybag.
That and he padded his record fighting several opponents with losing records or making their debut 60 + fights deep in his career. The changing of the guards occurred when world champion Chavez met 23 years old popular super star Oscar De La Hoya gave him a boxing lesson. Chavez always brought it and even in defeat he would not accept it. True fighter’s temperament.
THE GREATEST MEXICAN CHAMPION OF ALL TIME and clearly one of the 10 GREATEST fighters in the history of the sport!
Don Mauricio got his champions wrong. It wasn’t Azumah Nelson who vacated the WBC Super Featherweight title; it was Hector “Macho” Camacho in 1984. Azumah Nelson won the vacant title after Chavez moved up to Junior Welterweight in 1988.
I bet Mauricio will not thank you for pointing this out. Too much pride in him to do so. Thank you for slick eye catching it.
Taylor sustained the kinds of injuries in this fight that one might receive from a baseball bat. Just looking at his face (not to mention the kidney damage he sustained), it looked Barry Bonds used Taylor’s face for batting practice. Amazing how much damage Chavez could do back then.
FWIW, there’s an article online on RingTv.com where Taylor said he truly believed that he thought Chavez had loaded gloves that night. Taylor said he never swelled up before, wasn’t one to bruise easily, and that Chavez wasn’t hitting him much in the early rounds, yet he wound up with a ridiculous amount of damage. I considered myself a fan of Chavez back then, and I was pulling for him that night, but I don’t have a great feeling about that fight. Just sick for Taylor seeing how he ended up.
NO QUESTION Chavez used loaded gloves. He’s about as corrupt as the Mexican government. A looooong lost of fighting can drivers, yes he has plenty of notable wins, but the majority of his career is him beating on far lesser opponents.
USFBulls727, looking back a person wishes the ref, Steele, had stopped the fight even too early like some fights are stopped. Very sad to see the brilliant boxer Taylor was ending up like he did. Re the loaded gloves, I don’t want to think that, but it was unusual the amount of damage inflicted. I do wonder the mental utter disappointment Taylor had in being so close to causing a massive upset and also the feeling he himself as a boxer must have had that the ref robbed him of this.
Legend
Julio Cesar Chavez. Just a great and magnificent fighter, one of my all-time favorites. I wish him the best on his 60th birthday.
JCC was great fighter especially paying wbc sanctioning fees.MS write this stuff in your FB page or your instagram page…i ignore your tower of piffle waffle ,never read your waffle.
Chavez took a lot of punishment i the first Taylor fight and to get over that fight and keep going shows true grit. He fought many non title fights to give something back to the fans in Mexico. Not everyone can afford Las Vegas trips so thats a good thing. Wish more top fights over the years would have done that. Also keeps you sharp.
More nonsense about moving up three pounds to be a champion in multiple weight divisions in too many organizations. Didn’t realize Jimmy Lennon had been around that long. His dad was an all time great as a ring announcer for many shows televised from the Los Angeles Forum.
Imagine Chavez vs Duran at 135, both in their primes!!!!
Who wins??
P4P CERTAINLY one of the greatest fighters of all time. Some of the comments on here are pitiful, this is a fighting machine who gave his all and never backed down from anyone. Funny how so many greats are dissed by those that have little knowledge what it takes to become a phenom fighter. Hell there are those that if they lose a bet on a fight then the other fighter cheated? Maybe just maybe it’s time to give credit to those that dare to be great.