Did Anderson Silva win his boxing match against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.?
UFC legend Anderson Silva returned to the boxing ring after 16 long years on Saturday, June 19, to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a ten-round boxing match.
Anderson Silva won the headliner of the 'Tribute to the Kings' event via split decision (77-75, 77-75, 75-77).
The event featured Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. in a special exhibition bout opposite Hector Camacho Jr. in the co-main event. The four-round exhibition is set to be Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.'s last performance in the boxing ring.
The main card of the night also starred a trilogy fight between Chavez Sr.'s youngest son and Chavez Jr.'s brother Omar Chavez and Canelo Alvarez's brother Ramon Alvarez. Canelo was present at Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the fight and cornered his brother.
Anderson Silva put up an excellent show against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest ever to don a pair of fighting gloves, 'The Spider' Silva looked his vintage self inside the ring and brought out some of the classic moves that make him an inevitable name on an MMA Mount Rushmore on any given day.
There was a significant age and reach difference between the two fighters. On top of that, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. missed weight by 2.2 pounds for the 182 lbs. contracted fight, for which he had to forfeit $100,000 to Anderson Silva.
Before this, Anderson Silva had one victory and one defeat in professional boxing. He debuted against Osmar Luiz Teixeira in Uniao da Vitoria, Brazil, in May 1998 and lost via first-round corner retirement. His next was in August 2005 against Julio Cesar de Jesus in Salvador, Brazil, which 'The Spider' won via second-round knockout.
On the other hand, this was Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s 60th professional boxing bout, out of which he has won 52 (knockout - 34, decision - 18).
The former WBC middleweight titleholder's last outing was against Jeyson Minda in November 2020 in Culiacan, Mexico, where he secured a TKO win in the fourth round.
On the main card of the 'Tribute to the Kings' event, Jorge Luis Melendez beat Kevin Torres via unanimous decision (77-75, 77-74, 76-74), Damian Sosa defeated Abel Mina in a split decision (96-94, 94-96, 95-94) to win the WBO NABO super welterweight title, and Ramon Alvarez went through Omar Chavez via unanimous decision (80-73, 80-73, 79-73).