FINAL BELL FOR CHAVEZ?; LOSS TO GONZALEZ COULD BE KNOCKOUT BLOW TO HIS PROUD CAREER.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL / Boxing

Could this be the last we see of Julio Cesar Chavez as a serious contender?

Chavez, one of the great champions of our time, faces tough countryman Miguel Angel Gonzalez for the vacant WBC super lightweight championship Saturday in a Mexico City bullring (on pay-per-view).

If he wins, the 35-year-old will have won his seventh world title and positioned himself for more big-money fights, two payoffs near and dear to Chavez, who is as prideful as any athlete and burdened with financial difficulties of late.

If he loses - especially if he loses a one-sided fight - he could be finished as a viable contender.

Chavez, like Roberto Duran, is the type to fight until his body utterly breaks down, for the money if nothing else, but he won't be taken seriously forever. After several suspect performances, many don't take him seriously now.

Even Chavez bemoans the aging process.

In public, he says he feels young, full of life. In a more private moment, he was more candid. Asked before his loss to Oscar De La Hoya what he would chose if he could have anything, he said: ``My youth.'' And that was two years ago.

Still, Chavez is confident. If he fights until he's 60, he'll be confident.

He attributed less-than-Chavezlike performances in his last several bouts - including his last two against no-names Tony Martin and Larry La Coursiere, both of whom he beat by decision - to personal problems. Among them: a split with his wife and a debt to the tax hombre in Mexico he reportedly settled.

``A lot of people think I'm finished,'' he said at a news conference in Beverly Hills last week. ``They're definitely going to be surprised. I'm the not the same fighter I was (in the recent bouts).

``I went through two tough years, two years when I wondered if I'd fight again. That's the reason I haven't looked good. I had no motivation. I would train for two, three weeks before a fight.

``This fight I trained very well. The only thing I can say is, you'll be surprised to see Julio Cesar Chavez 100 percent. And when I'm prepared, it's very difficult to beat me.''

He's right. Chavez will win this fight.

No. 1, he certainly has the motivation. He likes being the idol of millions of Mexicans, both south of the border and here, and he feels it slipping away. Oh, he says they'll love him no matter what but he isn't interested in a nostalgic love.

He'll be fighting before tens of thousands of his adoring countrymen in the capital of Mexico for the last time, against a fellow Mexican hoping to supplant him as the hero of a nation. No loss would be more devastating.

And, again, there's the money.

No. 2, he looks like a fighter who is in shape. At the news conference, his body appeared to be trim, the skin on his face very taut.

And, No. 3, he has the experience. If any fighter knows how to win, it's Chavez: He's 100-2-1 (with 83 knockouts). That knowledge never leaves a great fighter, although the body ceases to cooperate at some point.

For Chavez, that point isn't quite here.

It won't be easy. Gonzalez has a remarkable chin, as he proved in a loss to De La Hoya in which he took the Golden Boy's best punches. Chavez, never a big puncher, probably won't knock out his younger opponent.

And it won't surprise anyone if Chavez, whose fight against De La Hoya was stopped because of a cut, bleeds again. His aging skin is susceptible. In fact, he reportedly trained with a face guard to avoid any such pre-fight accidents.

Still, the feeling here is that he has one more great fight in him and it's this fight.

Afterward? If he wins, he could get his coveted rematch with De La Hoya and the hefty paycheck that will come with it. De La Hoya's handlers have confirmed they are interested. And, Chavez being Chavez, he's convinced he would win.

After the news conference, Chavez, a dead-serious expression on his face, pointed at an American reporter and punctuated a conversation about a second De La Hoya fight by declaring loudly in English: ``And I win.''

Not likely. But it sure would be nice to see him in such a mega-fight one last time.

Gonzalez's plight: Although some believe Gonzalez, 27, will win easily, he's in a difficult position.

If he does win, he'll be known as the fighter who took down a god for good.

``Those are the hurdles in life,'' he said. ``Fighters go, fighters come. It's my time. I'm the youngest. I think the Mexican public is ready for a younger version of a great, great champion like Julio Cesar Chavez.

``I think the Mexican public will appreciate the fact I will carry the Mexican flag with dignity and pride in all my fights all over the world.''

Aside from the money, Gonzalez (42-1, 32 KOs) also has unusual motivation: He was embarrassed by his performance against De La Hoya last year. Basically, De La Hoya beat him with one punch, a torrid left jab.

Gonzalez blamed the loss in part on the fact he switched to a new trainer, Emanuel Steward, shortly before the fight. He now works with Abel Sanchez, Terry Norris' former trainer.

``It left a sour taste in my mouth, not so much that he beat me but how he beat me,'' Gonzalez said. ``I went into the fight ill-prepared, went into fight without a proper training camp, with a strange trainer.

``. . . He's not a bad trainer, his methods are just different. I'm a Mexican fighter, I need to be trained like a Mexican fighter.''

Waiting in the wings: Hector Lopez of Palmdale, who is in position to get a shot at the WBO title, gave Gonzalez all he could handle in April of 1993 before losing a world-title shot.

He wants another opportunity to fight Gonzalez. Ideally, he wouldn't want to get into the ring with Chavez, a friend, but would if he had to.

``I wouldn't like to fight Julio,'' he said. ``He's going to be remembered as such a great champion. If I fought him, he wouldn't be remembered like that because I think I would really beat him.

``That's not taking anything away from him. It's just how I feel.''

Rabbit punches: It looks like De La Hoya will fight Patrick Charpentier on June 13 in Atlantic City, N.J.

The fight has been postponed twice because of an injury to De La Hoya's left wrist. He's in a cast.

There's talk now that the delay might prevent De La Hoya from fighting York Boy Campas. . . .

Pernell Whitaker and Ike Quartey will meet for Quartey's WBA welterweight title on April 25 in Las Vegas.

Who will win? Whitaker. Although his style will put you to sleep, he's too quick and too skillful for Quartey, who is easy to hit. Of course, that's assuming Whitaker trains properly.

If Whitaker wins and Gonzalez beats Chavez, look for De La Hoya to give Whitaker a rematch.

COMING UP

Tuesday: On USA, Olympic gold medalist David Reid faces Fidel Avendano in an eight-round junior middleweight bout in Corpus Christi, Texas. Also, Pitchinoi Siriwat defends his WBA junior flyweight title against Jadao C.P. Gym.

Saturday: On PPV, Julio Cesar Chavez and Miguel Angel Gonzalez fight for the vacant WBC super lightweight title in Mexico City. Also, WBC champion Ricardo Lopez and WBA champ Rosendo Alvarez put their strawweight titles on the line in a unification bout.

Sunday: WBC light flyweight champion Saman Sorjaturong defends his WBC light flyweight title against Shiro Yahiro in Japan.

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BOX: COMING UP (see text)