By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s next fight will be moving from August to September 7th, according to Steve Kim. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is saying that he wants Chavez Jr. to fight on that date and he has the Staples Center in Los Angele, California on hold.
There had been talk of Chavez Jr. fighting in Mexico City, Mexico, but it looks like Arum has had second thoughts about that for some reason.
As for who Chavez Jr. will be facing on that date, it’s likely going to be middleweight contender Brian Vera in a fight at a catch-weight of 165 lbs. Chavez Jr. hasn’t fought since September of last year in losing to Sergio Martinez by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision, and Chavez Jr. has put on a lot of weight in that time off.
He was suspended after the fight when he tested positive for Marijuana, and he just recently finished serving out his 9-month suspension. He was also fined $900,000, which was one of the bigger fines handed down to a fighter.
Chavez Jr. brings in good ratings no matter who he faces, so Arum can probably stick anyone in there with him and the fight will do well on HBO. It’s about time that Chavez Jr. start fighting super middleweights or light heavyweights because he tends to rehydrate up in weight to the 180s and that’s a lot of weight for a middleweight to deal with.
If Chavez Jr. can start fighting super middleweights, it would be a little fairer to his opponents. WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward has already made it known that he would like to fight Chavez Jr. However, there haven’t been any comments from Chavez Jr. or his promoter Arum about whether they would like to face Ward.
Given the silence from them, I’d say the chances of Chavez Jr. ever fighting Ward are zero. Even Chavez Jr. wanted the fight, I think Arum would say no to him and keep him facing the likes of Vera and other vulnerable middleweights.
Comments are closed.