I think you are trying to soften the result somewhat. Almost nobody sees the fight as a particularly close one and Chavez just didn't throw anything in the majority of the rounds. I think it was the 7th when Chavez finally landed something in the last 3 seconds, but you cannot say 'Ooh, that was a hard shot, so I will ignore the 20 landed shots by the other guy who worked for almost the full 3 minutes'. Chavez landed meaningful punches very, very sporadically, maybe 2 a round on average, meanwhile Vera was working and getting his punches through.

Also, we can talk about Chavez being out of condition, but he has called out a FNF fighter two weight classes out of his normal weight. Chavez might have had to lose some weight, but it wasn't as though he drained himself like Toney against Jones Jr, it isn't as though he was forcing himself to fight at 160. Chavez was much bigger than Vera, who is the one that should be commended for going outside his comfort zone. Chavez has had everything set up on his plate and still he fucked up. He is a disgrace yet again after his previous PPV ripoffs, cheating, dodgy drug tests etc. And here he is on HBO getting a pass in an absolute robbery.

They won't put him in with anyone good, but if there is justice he will be fighting Froch next. Chavez isn't a top boxer and it needs to be hammered home in a brutal manner.