Chavez Jr: I was in rehab for two months

By Hesiquio Balderas

Julio César Chávez Jr has a scheduled upcoming fight with Alfredo “Perro” Ángulo on December 1st after almost two years out of the ring. His last fight was a one-sided defeat at the hands of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Chavez Jr, who has had a lot of problems in the past, gave a deep interview with the Mexican media about his personal demons.

“After the Canelo fight I was depressed, I had the worst night of my life. I was in my room after the fight and there were girls and there were people in the room that were recording everything. I saw what they were doing but I was disappointed with myself in the Canelo fight that I didn’t care anymore. I thought I was never going to fight again,” said Chavez Jr.

“I thought about never fighting again. I didn’t even train at all for about six months. I gained a lot of weight and I didn’t even care about fighting anymore. I thought about retirement. The same way I felt when I fought Maravilla Martinez, didn’t feel right. I was drinking more and I had taken drugs. I had anxiety problems all of my life so I started taking prescription drugs, before that it was marijuana. I was hurting myself.

“I was in my father’s rehab clinic for about two months. I’ve had problems. It was difficult. At the beginning, I said to myself that I didn’t have any problems. I had money, I have my house, but then I realized that I did have a problem. That my wife and my daughters saw when I was in bad shape. I know that the addiction is a battle you fight every day. If not I can go back to drinking and other stuff and I don’t want that,” concluded Julio Jr.