Anderson Silva impresses in boxing, upsets Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

Anderson Silva surpassed expectations in his boxing return, defeating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr by split decision.

In his return to the boxing ring, Anderson Silva (1-1, 1 KOs) surpassed expectations as he defeated former WBC middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (52–5–1 (1), 34 KOs) by split decision.

Chavez Jr opened up the first round landing to the body of Silva. Midway through the round Chavez Jr landed a good left hook but Silva took it well. In the second, Silva was falling short on a lot of his punches as Chavez Jr was easily landing his jab.

The third round was far more entertaining as the showmanship of Silva started to show. Chavez Jr had ‘The Spider’ backed up against the ropes but most of his punches missed or were blocked. Silva walked himself against the ropes late in the round and encouraged the aggression from Chavez Jr.

Silva had Chavez Jr on the backfoot towards the end of the fourth round, landing a heavy lead uppercut and following up with a string of punches. Chavez Jr was complaining to the referee at any chance he could get, claiming Silva landed to the back of the head in the fifth.

In the sixth round, Silva was fighting well in the clinch landing some good hooks and uppercuts. The right eye of Chavez Jr was bloodied up as Silva continued to look comfortable in the seventh round. The fight was briefly stopped in the final round to check the eye of Chavez Jr. Silva continued to land some good uppercuts as the fight came to a close.

The full list of results for Chavez Jr vs. Silva are below:

Anderson Silva def. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr via unanimous decision (75-77, 77-75, 77-75)

Ramon Alvarez def. Omar Chavez via unanimous decision (80-73, 80-73, 79-73)

Damian Sosa def. Abel Mina via split decision (94-96, 96-94, 95-94)

Jorge Melendez def. Kevin Torres via unanimous decision (77-75, 77-74, 76-74)