Chavez Takes Another Shot at Resurrecting Career

He will enter the ring as a professional for the 110th time tonight. Supposedly, it will be for the last time. Let’s hope so.

Julio Cesar Chavez has been a part of the boxing scene for two decades, and with punishing fists and undeniable courage has made a lasting imprint on his sport and is revered among his Mexican countrymen.

He is considered the greatest fighter Mexico has ever produced. He will take a 103-4-2 record and 86 knockouts into tonight’s title fight against World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Kostya Tszyu (24-1-1, 20 knockouts) of Russia at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

In recent years, it is Chavez who has taken the pounding. He is 38, an old 38, the result of abusing his body, both inside and outside the ring.

Chavez never had the speed or shiftiness to avoid punches. So he waded in, confident that he could land more devastating blows than he would receive.

And he did, for a long time.

But the cumulative effect of all that punishment has exacted its toll. So too have the long nights of drinking and partying as illustrated by two looks behind the scenes.

SCENE ONE

Location: San Antonio. Time: Early morning. Occasion: A promotional tour for Chavez’s first fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 1996.

As dawn breaks, De La Hoya is leaving his hotel to go for a morning run. In the lobby is Chavez, just coming in from a long night on the town.

Two careers passing in the night.

SCENE TWO

Location: Las Vegas. Time: Late night. Occasion: A fight for which Chavez has worked as an television analyst.

His job done, Chavez is stumbling through a casino after obviously having had too much to drink.

Lurching into a reporter he recognizes, Chavez places his head on the chest of the writer and tells that writer that he loves him.

Through it all, through his tax problems in his native country, whispers about domestic abuse and an often-losing battle to stay in shape, Chavez has managed to fight on.

He once battled the likes of De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker and Meldrick Taylor. Last year he fought Verdell Smith, Marty Jakubowski, Buck Smith and Willy Wise, who beat Chavez on a decision. And now comes Tszyu, a world-class opponent who seems to be more than Chavez can handle at this point.

Arizona Sen. John McCain appealed to state officials, asking them not to allow this fight to take place.

No one listened.

Chavez insists that he has rededicated himself. He has met several weight deadlines. According to publicist John Beyrooty, “Chavez looks six or seven years younger.”

Beyrooty, of course, is just doing his job, but by the time Tszyu finishes doing his job, Chavez figures to look six or seven years older.

Those rooting for Chavez the fighter hope that he can reach back for one last memorable performance.

Those rooting for Chavez the person just hope this is his last performance.

ON SECOND THOUGHT . . .

Before De La Hoya stepped into the ring last month against Shane Mosley, the pay-per-view predictions were soaring, as they usually are.

Eight hundred thousand homes, one million, 1.2 million--projections were off the charts.

Harsh reality, however, is something else. The original post-fight estimate by HBO was 700,000 buys, which put it only third among De La Hoya matches behind his fight against Felix Trinidad (1.35 million buys, the largest for a non-heavyweight bout) and De La Hoya-Whitaker (750,000).

With canvassing of cable operators continuing, it now appears De La Hoya-Mosley will come in close to 600,000, about what De La Hoya’s fight against Ike Quartey drew.

One day 800,000 is the truth. The next it is 600,000.

That’s bad news for De La Hoya, whose universal appeal heading into the Mosley fight might have been damaged by his loss to Trinidad last September.

It’s even worse news for Mosley, who has been told that the $10.1 million promised him for a rematch by Bob Arum, De La Hoya’s promoter, won’t be forthcoming.

If De La Hoya’s appeal was waning after the loss to Trinidad, it’s certainly no better after a second defeat at the hands of Mosley.

All of which has brought plans for Mosley-De La Hoya II, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 20, to a temporary halt.

The Mosley camp wants its $10 million. Arum says the money is not there unless a creative financing plan can be developed.

Staples Center, which hopes to be involved in the bidding for the rematch against Las Vegas interests, paid a site fee of about $5.5 million for the first fight. But with the current monetary concerns, it is estimated that the fee for a rematch could go as high as $8 million. That could price it out of the reach of Staples Center. It’s a match both fighters need--De La Hoya to reestablish his role as a dominating fighter, Mosley because, even at a lower price, it’s the richest fight out there for him.

Negotiations for Trinidad-De La Hoya II fell apart, partly because both fighters felt they deserved the bigger purse.

Cedric Kushner, Mosley’s promoter, is determined not to let that happen this time.

“We don’t want this to deteriorate into an ego-driven, nonsensical, counterproductive mess,” he said.

QUICK JABS

Middleweights Nick Martinez (14-1, six knockouts) and Roger Flores (12-12-1, no knockouts) will face each other in the 10-round main event Thursday night at The Quiet Cannon in Montebello. First bell will be at 7:30 . . . Kushner, who has been successful staging small shows in an intimate setting in New York, is looking for a spot to do the same in Los Angeles.