Former UFC great Anderson Silva is heading to the boxing ring. TMZ Sports was the first to report late last night that former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva (34-11, 1 NC in MMA) has agreed to box Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (52-5-1 in boxing).
The event will take place on June 19th and it will be in Mexico. Back in 2012, Chavez Jr was looked at as one of the best boxers in the world. The son of boxing great, Julio Cesar Chavez, was 46-0-1 and the WBC World Middleweight Champion.
However, over the last eight years, it hasn’t been the same story for Chavez Jr. Chavez Jr finished Andy Lee back in 2012 to retain his title, but after that, Chavez Jr has gone just 6-5 inside the squared circle.
Now, he has been in there with some of the best that boxing has to offer. Back in 2017, Chavez Jr did take on Canelo Alvarez, but ultimately lost a decision. Chavez Jr had two boxing matches in 2020 where he went 1-1. His last one came against Jeyson Minda and he won by TKO.
Anderson Silva to Boxing
At one point, Anderson Silva was being looked at as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. When 2012 ended, Silva was the UFC’s middleweight champion and he had a record of 33-4.
However, since his win against Stephen Bonnar in 2012, Silva went just 1-7, 1 NC in his last nine fights. The UFC wanted Silva to retire, but he wanted to continue in combat sports whether it be MMA or boxing.
The UFC released Silva from his contract after his loss to Uriah Hall back in October. From there, Silva has been trying to figure out what he’s wanted to do. There were limited MMA offers, but there were some intriguing boxing matches.
Roy Jones Jr even called for a boxing match with Silva. Silva supposedly had a couple of offers on the table, but ultimately decided on the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr fight. Worth nothing that Silva has had two pro boxing matches early in his career and he’s 1-1.