CEITEDMOFO
Banned
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Oscar De La Hoya promised us that Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin will happen in the fall of 2017, but in the meantime, that means both men will be fighting at least once before they possibly face each other. While it looks as if Golovkin will be fighting Daniel Jacobs in March, Canelo and his team have their eyes set on a Cinco de Mayo date with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The LA Times has the story from the World Boxing Council (WBC) convention from earlier this week.
Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy, the promotional company that represents Alvarez, told The Times on Wednesday that talks heated up after Chavez looked good in a Saturday bout in Mexico.
“We’ve been talking, it’s a real possibility and we hope we can get it done. There’s interest on both sides,” Gomez said.
“I know it’ll be an explosive fight. As a Mexican American, I’m proud because it’s the two biggest names in Mexico — the two best fighters from Mexico at the moment — and whenever the two top Mexicans fight each other, it’s a huge event.”
Chavez Jr. (50-2-1-1 NC, 32 KOs) scored a unanimous decision win over Dominik Britsch last week in Mexico. The fight was his first in over a year and was held at a catchweight of 169 lbs. He once held the WBC’s 160 lbs strap, but lost it in 2012 by unanimous decision to Sergio Martinez. Chavez Jr’s career can best be summed up as frustrating and nowhere near the iconic status of his father, Julio Cesar Chavez. He has twice been suspended for testing positive for marijuana (including the Martinez fight), badly missed weight for his controversial decision win over Brian Vera, and last year he missed weight for a contracted 169 lbs catchweight bout vs. Marcos Reyes. In April 2015, Chavez Jr. fought at light heavyweight (175 lbs) and suffered a stoppage loss to Andrzej Fonfara, and it marked the first time he’d ever been knocked down.
Meanwhile, Canelo (48-1-1, 34 KOs) fought twice this year, knocking out Amir Khan in the 6th round, then putting away Liam Smith in the 9th round of a bout contested at Cowboys Stadium. The Mexican superstar relinquished his WBC middleweight title after the 15-day negotiating period to stage a fight with Gennady Golovkin, who was his mandatory challenger, was deemed too restrictive.
Canelo is currently the WBO junior middleweight (154 lbs) champion by virtue of his win over Smith, and he’d been competing as a middleweight through catchweight bouts at 155 lbs. Even when De La Hoya made the promise on ESPN’s First Take that Canelo-Golovkin would happen next year, he stated that Canelo is really a junior middleweight. (Transcription by Boxing Scene)
“Canelo truly is a 154 pounder. He can make the weight no problem. We made a promise in 2017 that he will move up to 160 and fight all of the champions, including GGG. I guarantee it and will put my promoter's license on the line.”
De La Hoya also repeated a line he’s used frequently this year, which is that Canelo needs to take a fight at 160 (not a 155 lbs catchweight) before a showdown with the WBC/WBA/IBF champion.
“He can’t just go to up to 160 and fight the best. He will move up to the weight, fight at that weight (in his next fight) and then in September face GGG. (Golovkin) just has to sign the contract… this fight must happen for the public in 2017.”
Evidently, the best way to acclimatize yourself to 160 is fight a guy whose last appearance at the weight class was 4 years ago, and do so at a catchweight of 165 lbs, which Chavez Jr. has been fighting above in all of his post-Martinez outings. An article by ESPN Deportes reports that Chavez Jr. was offered $5 million for the fight, but it otherwise wasn’t an official number and that other negotiations still have to be made.
Long story short: If this fight happens, it will definitely sell well with at least the Mexican viewing audience, especially on Cinco de Mayo weekend. It’d also be farcical matchmaking of the highest order, but this is boxing, so this should be expected.
Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in talks for Cinco de Mayo fight
You got "Nelo weight" & that SMW/LHW hybrid for chronic puffin in n out eatin son of a legend Junior.
