Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. retains the WBC title

SAN ANTONIO - Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. retained the WBC middleweight title Saturday, earning a unanimous decision over fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio.

The judges scored the bout 118-110, 116-112 115-113 for Chavez, which drew a mixed reaction from the 14,120 in attendance Saturday at the Alamodome.

Neither fighter went down despite taking continuous heavy blows to the head and body throughout the 12-round bout.

Chavez (45-0-1-1) overcame a gutsy performance by Rubio (53-6-1) despite having some trouble entering the fight.

Chavez, who hails from Culiacan, Mexico, struggled to make weight for the championship bout and was arrested on drunken driving charges Jan. 22 in Los Angeles.

“He wasn’t as tough as I thought he would be,’’ Chavez said. “I felt good about myself the whole fight. I felt a lot stronger than him. He never hurt me in the fight. I felt his punches, but he never hurt me.’’

The fighters spent most of the bout standing shoulder to shoulder, which resulted in a couple of head butts and two warnings to Rubio for low blows. Although Chavez won handily on the scorecard, many of the closely contested rounds could have been scored either way. AP