Chavez Is a Unanimous Winner

Considering he was fighting an opponent who had won only three of his last 11 fights, it’s difficult to tell how much 42-year-old Julio Cesar Chavez has left as a fighter.

But this much was obvious Saturday night at Staples Center. As a gate attraction, he hasn’t lost a thing.

When his fight against Ivan Robinson had ended and it was announced Chavez had won his 107th victory, the announced crowd of 17,692 stood and cheered as if he had won a sixth world title, cheered as if were 1980 and he was again a 17-year-old, cheered as they always have for Mexico’s greatest fighter.

Chavez (107-5-2, 88 knockouts) knocked 34-year-old Ivan Robinson (31-10-2, 12) down with a right hand in the fourth round and went on to win a unanimous decision.

The night also featured a first-round knockout by Chavez’s son, Julio Jr., a close, action-packed victory by super-featherweight Jesus Chavez (41-3, 28) over Carlos Hernandez (41-5-1, 24) and a successful title defense by International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez.

“They told me it was going to be an easy fight,” the senior Chavez said. “It wasn’t. I give Robinson a lot of credit.”

Said Robinson: “Who said this guy can’t punch anymore?”

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Jesus Chavez won on two of the three judges’ scorecards, Loui Filippo (115-113) and Max DeLuca (117-111) awarding him the fight. The third judge, Marty Denkin, gave the match to Hernandez, 115-113.

“I won the fight,” said Chavez, “but there was no loser.”

Lightweight Adam Wynant (9-4-1, 3) hadn’t fought in nearly a year and a half when he stepped in against Chavez Jr., (19-0, 14) and it quickly became evident that Wynant didn’t want to fight Saturday, either.

He lasted only 42 seconds of a scheduled six-round bout before voluntarily dropping to the canvas to avoid a barrage of blows being landed by Chavez. Referee Jack Reiss didn’t hesitate, immediately ending the match.

“I couldn’t be happier because I did it on my father’s card,” Chavez said.

Wynant would have to be happy with his 42 seconds of fame.

In the night’s only title fight, Marquez (34-3, 30) successfully defended his crown with a unanimous decision over Ricardo “Chapo” Vargas (37-11-3, 12).

In a preliminary match scheduled for four rounds, super welterweight Vanes Martirosyan of Glendale, a member of the 2004 U. S. Olympic team, improved to 2-0 and got his first knockout by stopping Jovanni Rubio (6-6, 4) at the 2:30 mark of the first round.