By Dan Ambrose: In a battle for the No.1 fighter in Mexican boxing, former two division world champion Saul “Canelo:” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) has reportedly been installed by the odds-makers as an 8:1 favorite to beat former WBC middleweight title holder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) on May 6, according to Fight News.
Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. will be televised on HBO pay-per-view, likely at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The venue still hasn’t officially been ironed out, but it’s looking like the fight will take place in Las Vegas.
It’s pretty obvious why the 26-year-old Canelo is the favorite to beat the 30-year-old Chavez Jr. Canelo is coming up in weight for the 164.5lb catchweight for the fight, and it’s going to be a lot easier for him to make the weight than it will for Chavez Jr. It’s been five years since Chavez Jr. was that low.
A lot of boxing fans made a big deal about Chavez Jr. making the 168lb limit for his last fight against Dominic Britsch last December, but what’s not been said is how poor he looked at the weigh-in. Chavez Jr’s face looked skeletal in making the 168lb limit. He’s clearly outgrown the super middleweight division, and he should be fighting at 175.
With Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions negotiating a very low 164 ½ pound catchweight for the May 6 fight, it’s going to leave Chavez Jr. totally drained in having to get down to the weight limit for the fight. There’s further pressure on Chavez Jr. with the $1 million per pound weight penalty for the fight.
Chavez Jr. isn’t going to want to get hit with that penalty by him missing weight for the fight, because his purse will quickly disappear if he comes in over the limit. The fight is going to be won more for Canelo on the catchweight than it will be for anything that takes place inside the ring on the night.
The thing is, Canelo hardly needs a catchweight of 164.5lbs for him to fight Chavez Jr., because he’s rumored to be rehydrating into the 180s for his fights already. The only thing a catchweight does for this fight is it weakens Chavez Jr. and virtually guarantees a victory for Canelo.