Boxing Fans Get Discount Special

One is a has-been. The fights that made Julio Cesar Chavez a legend in his native Mexico are available now only on highlight reels and through their retelling by fans.

The other is a never-was. Always a contender, never a champion in a major sanctioning organization, Ivan Robinson has sunk to preliminary fighter.

Chavez, now 40-something -- his exact age is a matter of speculation -- has fought only three times in nearly five years since being knocked out by Kostya Tszyu in 2000. The wear and tear of 114 fights and hard living have left him Julio Cesar Chavez in name only.

Chavez says he has cleaned up his act and is in great shape. That might enable him to lead a healthier life but doesn’t translate into great fighting shape. He can no longer crush a credible opponent’s ribs with devastating body shots, nor can he sustain the type of punishment he once endured.

Robinson, 34, has won only three of his last 11 fights. He was knocked out by Mike Stewart, and lost decisions to Efren Hinojosa, Chucky Tschorniawsky and Reggie Nash. Never heard of any of them? None of them figures to be heard from again either.

So Chavez and Robinson are ready to hang up the gloves? No way. Instead, they will be in Saturday’s main event at Staples Center.

And the public is buying it. More than 11,000 seats had been sold as of Tuesday. Figuring in luxury suite seats, which are automatically counted, and an anticipated wave of walk-up fans, a capacity crowd of about 20,000 could be in attendance.

The fight also will be available on pay-per-view.

How did a match that might have trouble getting licensed in some states turn into a potential financial bonanza? Bob Arum.

Showing that at 73 he hasn’t lost his feel for the marketplace, the promoter made all the right calls. Arum, who needs name fighters after losing Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, got two fighters who can use the money, and a building that needs events.

Arum certainly knows the Latino market. He tapped into its mushrooming buying power and turned De La Hoya into the biggest moneymaker the sport has known outside of the heavyweight division.

De La Hoya prices, however, weren’t going to cut it this time with the diluted product Arum was peddling. So, he signed Chavez for $250,000, Robinson for $50,000, put Chavez’s son, Julio Jr., in a prelim bout, and added a quality undercard featuring International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez, talented super-featherweights Carlos Hernandez and Jesus Chavez, Glendale super-welterweight Vanes Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, and drastically lowered admission. The house is scaled from $200 down to $25, with 60% of the seats at $50 or less.

“That was the trick here, and it worked,” Arum said. “I have never seen anything like the reaction. People here just want to be around Julio, just want to be able to reach out and touch him.”

Others, however, are keeping arm’s length. Showtime is distributing the telecast but has no active involvement in the show and network officials declined to comment on the fight.

Staples Center, trying to replace dates lost to the hockey lockout, is happy to have the lights on Saturday night, but Tim Leiweke, the arena’s president, is hardly offering a glowing endorsement. “Essentially, we are renting the building out,” he said. “We’re not the promoter here, and that’s the first time we have done that. We have a good relationship with Bob. He wanted to do the fight here, and I understand the draw.

“Is this a fight we ultimately would have put up a guarantee for? No. But I think it’s going to be one of our better-attended fights, because the ticket prices are great.

“We have yet to have a bad fight here. If this one is a bad fight, we’ll live and learn.”

Boxing historian Bert Sugar said he understood the attraction.

“I think,” he said, “the fans are paying $25 to listen to Julio’s arteries harden.”