One of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time will be stepping into a different form of fighting this weekend as former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva will be competing in a boxing match.
While the sport of boxing is nothing new to Silva, it has been sixteen years since his last professional boxing bout way back in August of 2005. Silva made his name and fame by competing in MMA’s premier organization – the UFC. Holding the title for a number of years with many successful title defenses, Silva captured the eyes of many by looking like he was just fighting in the matrix and making great fighters look average. Silva’s kickboxing, muay-thai style with precise boxing helped propel him to having one of the most successful UFC careers a fighter could have. The aging Silva, now 46, is not who he once was as father time catches up to everyone but will be interesting to see what he has left in the tank.
As for his opponent, the former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has established an incredible career in boxing since the early 2000s. Competing against the likes such as Canelo Alvarez, Daniel Jacob, and Sergio Martinez, Chavez Jr. has fought a who’s who of boxing talent. His most recent fight came in November of last year with a fourth round TKO victory over Jeyson Minda.
The fight is scheduled for eight rounds as it headlines the pay-per-view event called “Tribute to the Kings”. I think everyone knows how talented of a striker Silva is but, boxing is still a whole different realm which takes a strong focus to the technique and drive that it requires in order to be successful at it. Chavez has a wealth of boxing knowledge under his belt and he has competed against some of the very best for nearly two decades. I don’t expect anything that Silva throws at him to be completely new for Chavez. With Silva having a taller frame and a longer reach (6’2 to 6’0, and 77.5” of reach to 73”) I expect Chavez to do what he has done in the past and that is apply pressure and walk his opponent down. Silva has often relied on his counter-punching ability but his speed and reaction time has diminished greatly as he has aged. Chavez being the younger, faster, and more hard hitting fighter I expect him to have success in this fight. As of this writing I am currently not seeing any props for this fight but if you can get a good number on Chavez Jr. to win by decision then I would suggest taking that.
Prop: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Wins By Decision
Thanks for reading and best of luck!
