Jesus Chavez, now 34, has battled adversity in and out of the boxing ring since he was a teenager.
He was at it again Saturday night, trying to come back from a series of injuries and shed the rust of a 16-month layoff when he defended his International Boxing Federation lightweight title against Julio Diaz.
This time the odds against Chavez were too steep.
Early in the third round, as he changed his stance, his right leg buckled and he fell without being hit. He could not get up before referee Frank Santore Jr. reached the count of 10.
Thus Chavez lost his title and found his boxing future in doubt. Profoundly disappointed, he told a Showtime audience after the bout, “I apologize to the world.”
Chavez grew up in Chicago as Gabriel Sandoval. What happened to him Saturday is a microcosm of what has happened to Chicago’s best fighters in recent years.
Top-level Chicago-area boxers have become an endangered species.
Former light heavyweight champion Montell Griffin, who beat James Toney twice and was the first man to defeat Roy Jones Jr., has struggled since Jones knocked him out in their rematch.
Heavyweight Oliver McCall, who won the title by knocking out Lennox Lewis, lost the rematch and has been inconsistent since.
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Fellow heavyweights Andrew Golota and Fres Oquendo each have come close in title fights against Chris Byrd and John Ruiz. Both have faltered since.
Perhaps the brightest current hopes among Chicago fighters are World Boxing Association interim lightweight champion David Diaz and undefeated women’s middleweight champion Leatitia Robinson. Both of them are being overlooked as they seek big payday title bouts.
Also struggling to stand among the best is featherweight Jose Hernandez, who edged into the spotlight when he knocked out unbeaten prospect Jason Litzau on Dec. 16.
Two other top Chicago-area fighters of recent vintage are Angel Manfredy, who hasn’t fought in three years but at his best knocked out Arturo Gatti and Calvin Grove and beat the aforementioned Diaz; and big-punching Lee Roy Murphy, who won a cruiserweight title and had 23 knockouts among his 30 victories against only four losses after his last fight in 1998.
In January the North American Boxing Federation, which is affiliated with the World Boxing Council, released its updated rankings of Canadian, Mexican and American boxers.
Of the 308 fighters in 17 weight classes from 107-pound strawweight to heavyweight, only five were from the Chicago area: David Diaz, Griffin, Hernandez, Oquendo and bantamweight Francisco Rodriguez.
As Chicago boxing fans wait for someone among the area’s current crop to reach the top and yearn for a newcomer to break into the elite ranks, they at least can reminisce about past greats.
Some of the greatest fighters of any era, such as iconic Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, spent considerable time in Chicago. Johnson operated a nightclub here.
But to qualify as a Chicago-area fighter in this subjective ranking, one either had to be born here or live and train here for an extended time.
Ranking the area’s top 10 fighters of all time is a different challenge from rating its current boxers. Unlike the slim pickings in recent years, there is a surfeit of terrific fighters in Chicago’s past.
Among longtime boxing observers polled for their favorites, Barney Ross was the consensus No. 1.
Other consistent vote-getters were Tony Zale, Nate Bolden, Johnny Coulon, Jackie Fields, Charlie White, Davey Day, Sammy Mandell, Freddie Dawson, Willie Joyce, Johnny Bratton, Ernie Terrell and Eddie Perkins.
And for those who could remember further back, there were turn-of-the-century Chicago lightweights Packey McFarland and Danish-born, Chicago-bred Oscar “Battling” Nelson, who fought in some marathons that went 40 rounds and beyond.
And there were bantamweights “Hairpin” Harry Harris and Jimmy Barry, who retired undefeated in 1899 with a record of 58-0 with two no-contests and 10 draws, one of them against Harris.
Until Saturday night’s disappointing showing, in which he seemed tentative even before his knee collapsed, Chavez probably was the toughest current fighter to come out of Chicago.
He punched his way to the top, winning titles at 130 and 135 pounds. He persisted despite injuring his right shoulder in a 12-round title fight loss to Erik Morales in which he fought the last 10 rounds with just his left hand and despite seeing his opponent die after he beat Leavander Johnson in a Sept. 17, 2005, title bout. That was his last fight before he faced Julio Diaz last Saturday.
Outside the ring, he has faced a different hurdle. Growing up in Chicago, he was arrested as an accomplice in a 1990 grocery store robbery, pleaded guilty and was imprisoned for three years. Then, as a convicted felon who never became a U.S. citizen, he was deported to his native Mexico.
After he sneaked back and his boxing victories added up, his background was revealed and he was deported again. He has been granted permanent U.S. residence in Texas but has not received executive clemency in Illinois, which would allow him to become a U.S. citizen.
Julio Diaz, after his highly unusual victory over Chavez, quipped that there were too many Diazes in the lightweight division.
He made it clear he was talking about Juan Diaz, urging an elimination bout with the World Boxing Association champion. He never mentioned Chicagoan David Diaz, who still is waiting for a big-money championship fight after winning the interim World Boxing Council lightweight title by knocking out Jose Armando Santa Cruz last August.
But it appears that Juan Diaz next will fight WBC champion Joel Casamayor, who also ignored his supposed obligation to fight David Diaz.
Once again, a Chicago fighter faces an obstacle in trying to lift himself and his city to a pugilistic pinnacle.
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