By Dan Ambrose: Bob Arum of Top Rank expects former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to be back in May or June of this year, provided that he doesn’t get a long suspension for his recent positive marijuana test.
According to RingTV, Chavez Jr’s attorney will be meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission tomorrow [Tuesday] to give a status update on Chavez Jr. The full meeting to determine Chavez Jr’s case will be held in February sometime. It will then be decided what kind of penalty Chavez Jr. will get, if any, for his positive marijuana result for his last fight against Sergio Martinez last September.
If Chavez Jr. receives a suspension it might run out well before May or June, the dates that Arum is considering for Chavez Jr, as the suspension will be retroactive from just after the positive resuts were discovered last September.
Chavez Jr. has already been given a suspension until the Nevada Commission decides his case, so that time will be subtracted from the eventual suspension he gets. Chavez Jr. could also receive a fine for the positive test and that also will be decided in February when the Commission meets.
Chavez Jr. will likely be facing a top contender for his next fight. Matthew Macklin is rumored to be one of the possibilities, but it also could be someone a little weaker. That would be a tough fight for Chavez Jr. to take coming off of the kind of beating he took against Sergio Martinez. Chavez Jr. soaked up 12 rounds worth of punishment and Arum might not want to put him immediately into what could be another draining fight where he gets hit a lot.
Chavez Jr. reportedly will be changing trainers from Freddie Roach to Nacho Beristain. However, it’s not likely that he’ll fight any different than before because he’s pretty set in his style and it’s doubtful he’d do well if he fought in a less aggressive manner.
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