Chavez Jr. confirms $1M per pound weight penalty for Canelo fight

By Boxing News - 02/21/2017 - Comments

Image: Chavez Jr. confirms $1M per pound weight penalty for Canelo fight

By Jeff Aranow: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. says there is a $1 million per pound weight penalty for his May 6 fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez. It’s a penalty that can impact either fighter, although you have to figure that Chavez Jr. would be the one more at risk at being hit with the $1 million per pound weight penalty due to him coming in over the 168 lb. super middleweight limit several times in the last three years.

The Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. fight will take place at a catch-weight of 164 ½ pounds. Chavez Jr. says he’s at 180 pounds right now, and he feels that he’s going to be able to make the catch-weight. If he fails to, then the money will go to Canelo.

It’s a pretty stiff penalty. It’s unclear whether Chavez Jr. agreed to the penalty right away or not. Was it something that Golden Promotions, the promoters for Canelo, wouldn’t budge on? It would have been interesting to see if Golden Boy would have removed the weight penalty if Chavez Jr. walked away from the negotiations.

After all, the only option that Canelo has right now to make the kind of money he’d get against Chavez Jr. would be a fight against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, and it’s unclear whether they’ll ever agree to take that fight. Golovkin might be the last resort for Canelo when he’s exhausted every smaller money option out there against guys that he can beat with a high degree of certainty.

“I will make the weight and I know I will make the weight,” Chavez Jr. said via RingTV.com. “I will (be) 100% on May 6. He can put in the contract for a rematch or $1 million for a pound. One pound, $1 million. I’m good for the weight. I know there’s a lot of attention for this. I think this is the key to winning this fight, to take care of my body.”

That’s still a lot of pressure for Chavez Jr. to be under, even though he’s supposedly 16 lbs. away from the 164 ½ pound catch-weight right now. Chavez Jr. was very good at draining down to make 160lbs for when he was fighting at middleweight. Chavez Jr. would then rehydrate and look huge in the ring on the night of the fights. If Chavez Jr. can do that against Canelo, then he’s going to be a monster inside the ring. But it probably won’t be hard for Chavez Jr. to make the catch-weight limit for the fight if he’s really at 180lbs right now.

Chavez Jr. is already very close to the limit. Look at middleweight Daniel Jacobs for his March 18 fight against Gennady Golovkin. Jacobs weighed in at 174 lbs. for the World Boxing Council’s 30-day weight check. That’s 14 pounds that Jacobs will need to drain down to get to the 160lb limit in 1 month. Chavez Jr. has 16 pounds to lose in the next three months to get to the 164 ½ pound catch-weight for the Canelo fight. Chavez Jr. should easily make the weight. But still, it just seems kind of strict to have a huge money weight penalty like that. It will put a lot of pressure on Chavez Jr. and could in theory cause him to drain down too much in weight while getting ready for the fight.