By Luis Sandoval

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is enjoying some time off after his victory over Brian Vera as he was in attendance at the Timothy Bradley-Juan Manuel Marquez fight this past Saturday night. Chavez’s next fight is still unknown but there have been talks of a rematch taking place with Vera early next year after a controversial decision where many felt Vera deserved the nod.

Chavez struggled with his weight leading up to the Vera bout as a fight originally contracted at 163 pounds ended up being fought just two pounds shy of the Light Heavyweight 175 pound limit.

BoxingScene caught up with Chavez and he surprisingly reiterated that he would still like to fight at 160 pounds and for a title. A rematch with Sergio Martinez has been long talked about but in a story ran by BoxingScene last week, Martinez’s advisor Sampson Lewkowicz said Martinez feels Chavez is not deserving of a rematch.

Chavez was asked if a fight with Martinez is still the fight he wants or if he thinks that fight is getting more forgotten as time goes by.

“Maybe [Martinez is] forgetting about it as he’s talking about not wanting to fight me. Maybe he’s scared of me. He knows I wasn’t in my best form that fight. He looked really bad in his last fight” Chavez would tell BoxingScene.

“I think those last shots in the last round of our fight left him a little damaged so he’s now looking for a fight with a fighter who is much smaller in Miguel Cotto. But I think if the people want to see the rematch it would be great. And if not, the same thing and I think I left him with a memory he will never forget” said a smiling Chavez.

While Martinez is still the man to beat at Middleweight, many feel he may be on a decline as he looked less than spectacular in his fight Martin Murray where he was knocked down. Martinez who is now 38 years old also underwent surgery for his knee which sidelined him for the remainder of the year.

Chavez was asked if he felt Martinez was still the same fighter or if he also felt he may be headed down a slope.

“I think he’s a little on a decline. I think that knockdown in the 12th round took his confidence. Those punches plus his age. I still think he has more to give. I think the fight with Murray didn’t motivate him. It didn’t motivate him the same way as if he were to fight with me. It’s the same way Vera didn’t motivate me as if I were fighting a fight at 160 for a title with a big name fighter. Sometimes that type of thing happens. I think maybe he’s not at 100% but I think he still has enough to give a great fight against me” said the former Middleweight champion.

Chavez may have to wait in line to get another crack at Martinez as a fight with Cotto and Martinez appears to be the next fight being worked on. Chavez hopes to keep busy and fight 2-3 times next year and avoid having another long layoff.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter and Instagram @Truewest007.