Chavez Jr. still the first choice for Sergio Martinez’s next fight

By Boxing News - 09/30/2012 - Comments

Image: Chavez Jr. still the first choice for Sergio Martinez's next fightBy Dan Ambrose: Sampson Lewkowicz, the manager for WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s), says that former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) is still the leading candidate for the 37-year-old Martinez’s next fight in 2013 despite the wait that might be involved in getting to that fight. The 26-year-old Chavez Jr. is facing a suspension for testing positive for marijuana in his last fight agaisnt Martinez on September 15th.

Lewkowicz is kicking around the idea of trying to state the Chavez Jr-Martinez II fight in Argentina rather than the United States. Martinez comes from Argentina and has a a lot of fans there that he could potentially count on filling a stadium to see him fight Chavez Jr. again.

Lewkowicz told the Record.com.mx “If there is a viable offer to fight in Argentina…I have heard that Chávez would be willing to go to South America, which shows that he is a great warrior…Possibly the fight would be the first week of May.”

I think it’s a real long shot that a Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez II rematch takes place in Argentina. I think there’s too much risk involved in putting the fight there, because who’s to say that Martinez can fill a large stadium with fans the same way that Chavez Jr. can fill one of the stadiums in Texas where he’s been fighting as of recently. Bob Arum, Chavez Jr’s promoter, wants to put the Martinez-Chavez Jr. rematch at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas next year.

The Cowboys Stadium seats 100,000, and while it’s highly doubtful that Chavez Jr. and Martinez can pack in those kinds of numbers, it is possibly that a Chavez Jr-Martinez rematch could draw as many as 40,000 to 50,000 fans if the fight is marketed right. It obviously hurts that Chavez Jr. was beaten so soundly by Martinez earlier this month, but Chavez Jr. still has a lot of Mexican fans in the Texas area that would likely be interested in seeing him fight Martinez even after getting badly schooled by him.



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