Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in town to discuss Gennady Golovkin fight
In what may be a final chance to make the summer’s best boxing match, former middleweight world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will meet with one of his promoters Thursday to discuss a proposed July 19 bout against middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin at the Forum in Inglewood.
Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said company President Todd duBoef is scheduled to meet with Chavez (48-1-1, 32 knockouts) in the Southland after the boxer previously balked at an extension with the company as part of the deal.
“We’ll know one way or another,” Arum said.
Golovkin (29-0, 26 KOs) previously agreed to the terms for the fight, which probably would air on HBO pay-per-view.
“We are not going to wait for Chavez at this point anymore,” Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler told The Times in a text message. “If he signs, great. If he doesn’t, we are already discussing an HBO date in July” with another opponent.
The “fight is not off if Chavez signs, but we cannot wait any longer. We agreed to terms a month ago with Bob and made a lot of concessions to make the fight. We got a great response … there is a lot of interest from both fans and media. I can’t speak for Julio’s decisions, but I know there was a lot of money on the table for him.”
Golovkin, from Kazakhstan, trains in Big Bear.
Arum said he “can see why” Loeffler is getting antsy about the deal, but expressed hope Chavez will sign for the single fight, then be free to pursue other bouts against others in the 160- to 175-pound weight classes.
“If we thought we couldn’t get it done, we wouldn’t be pursuing it,” Arum said.
Twitter: @latimespugmire
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