Julio Cesar Chavez Jr of Mexico unanimously outpointed Ireland’s John Duddy on Saturday night in a 12-round middleweight fight at the Alamodome.
Chavez Jr (42-0-1) dominated the early part of the fight with a steady dose of hooks and jabs, but Duddy (29-2) kept the pressure on and pushed Chavez to 12 rounds for the first time in his eight-year career.
“John is the toughest fighter I’ve faced so far,” Chavez said. “He kept the pressure on and really pushed me farther than I’ve been to this point in my career, but I knew coming in that he was going to be challenging, and I was happy to walk away with the victory.”
Former boxing star Julio Cesar Chavez led his son into the ring to an eruption of applause. The elder Chavez then did color commentary for the pay-per-view broadcast.
The fight was Chavez’s first since a 10-round unanimous decision over Troy Rowlands in November that was changed to a no-contest after he tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for seven months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The fight was also Chavez’s first with trainer Freddie Roach, who guides WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
■JACK JOHNSON PARDON
AP, RENO, NEVADA
A century ago, black heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson reached the pinnacle of his career when he defeated “Great White Hope” Jim Jeffries in Reno in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century.”
One hundred years later, fans of the legendary fighter are still seeking a posthumous presidential pardon for Johnson, saying that his later conviction for transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes was steeped in racism.
The Johnson faithful will gather in Reno from Friday to July 4 for the centennial of the July 4, 1910, bout to celebrate his life. They also hope to build on a resolution passed by Congress last year urging US President Barack Obama to issue the pardon.
“I think it’s wonderful that everyone is rallying around his cause,” said Linda Haywood, 54, of Chicago, Johnson’s great-great niece. “It’s time that the wrong that was committed against my uncle be righted.”
Johnson had no children. Only one of his siblings, Janie Johnson Rhodes, did, and five of her descendants, including Haywood, plan to attend the event that will feature tours of the fight site and Johnson’s training camp, lectures, and appearances by family members of Jeffries and promoter Tex Rickard.
The US Justice Department refused last year to endorse the pardon resolution, saying its general policy is not to process pardons for dead people. However, the department did note two such pardons — one each by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
The 1910 bout was perceived by many as a battle for racial supremacy at a time when racism was pervasive in the US, said Wayne Rozen, author of a book on the fight titled America on the Ropes. Rozen, who will be the keynote speaker at a Reno dinner during the centennial observance, believes Johnson was unjustly imprisoned because of his romantic links to white women.
“He just had the audacity to be with white women and they knocked him out on that,” Rozen said. “They couldn’t stand that the most important title in sports was held by a black man. The book was thrown at him for a very minor offense and it changed his life forever.”
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
RSS