By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s hefty $900,000 fine for testing positive for marijuana has been reduced to $100,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission [NSAC] today, according to Fightnews.
Chavez Jr. tested positive for marijuana from his last fight against Sergio Martinez last September in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chavez Jr. was then suspended for 9 months, and given a huge fine $900K fine by the NSAC. The fine was one of the biggest handed out against a fighter, and Chavez Jr. naturally appealed.
You have to wonder why the NSAC decided to reduce Chavez Jr’s fine by such a large amount. Could it be that they wanted to make sure that he continued to fight in their state in the future? There had been talk floating around that Chavez Jr. wouldn’t be fighting in that state again because of the fine.
Chavez Jr’s next fight has been mentioned by Steve Kim as taking place on September 7th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It’ll be interesting to see if Bob Arum of Top Rank will change the venue to Las Vegas now that the fine has been reduced. My guess is no. Arum has likely already booked the Staples Center for September 7th, and won’t change it. Brian Vera has been mentioned as an opponent for Chavez Jr.
Chavez Jr. has a lot of options for fights if he chooses to move up to 168, which is a weight class that he should have been fighting in a long time ago. At that weight, Chavez Jr. can fight guys like Andre Ward and Carl Froch. He also can face light heavyweights like Adonis Stevenson or Nathan Cleverly. It should be easier for Chavez Jr. to make weight at 168 because he won’t have to drain down as much. Coming down from the 190s to 160 must be incredibly hard for Chavez Jr. for his fights at middleweight.
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