Diego Chaves (23-2 KO’s 19) will make his third appearance on American soil against Timothy Bradley (31-1 KO’s 12) on December 13 in Las Vegas. Chaves like other Argentinian top fighters, possesses a lot of power.
Chaves began concentrating on the sport boxing at age 19, after he stopped playing soccer at age 18. His story partly resembles that of his fellow countryman Sergio Martinez.
When one watches Chaves fight, it’s hard to comprehend he started focusing on boxing one year before he turned 20. The talent and skill level would make one believe he dedicated himself to the sport boxing at an early age, as many other top professional fighters have.
In his first appearance in America he squared off against Keith Thurman. The bout remained competitive throughout entire night. Chaves managed to win the early rounds, but Thurman made the necessary adjustments. As Chaves began to fade in the later stages of the fight, Thurman landed a hard body shot in the 9th round that spelled the end of the bout. In the 10th round Thurman managed to finish Chaves off with a barrage of punches and earned a knockout victory.
About a year later Chaves regained another chance to redeem himself, and displayed his boxing skills in front of an American audience against Brandon Rios. The Chaves-Rios bout involved a lot of rough housing. Vic Drakulich was in charge of overseeing the entire action-taking place from the two combatants. It was perhaps one of the worst referring jobs done in a prizefight in years.
In the 9th round Drakulich decided to disqualify Chaves. The official reasoning for the disqualification was due to an elbow Chaves delivered off a clinch. When examining the replay, Chaves never even attempted to throw an elbow.
It was a huge blow to Chaves given the fact he was ahead on all of the three official scorecards with only two rounds left in the bout. The fight that was supposed to expedite his career in facing top-level opposition seemed to turn into a huge disaster. Chaves only earned 25K that night, while Rios earned 925K.
Fortunately for Chaves, two fights later he managed to get another opportunity to compete in America against another well-known fighter in Timothy Bradley. Despite Chaves’ low level of popularity in America, Bradley knows he is in for a tough fight.
Bradley described his assessment of Chaves on Fighthype as a combination of many great fighters.
“He reminds me of a little Floyd Mayweather with the roll right hand. A James Toney who likes to stay in the pocket and roll the shoulder and has a great right uppercut like Roberto Duran.”
Bradley also went on to say, “The world doesn’t know who he is, but the boxing fans know this guy can truly fight. I’m expecting a tough fight on December 13 and I know he’s going to be at his best. I can’t wait to get it on.”
