It’s official: Canelo Alvarez will fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Las Vegas not ‘Jerry World’

It’s hard to resist the potential riches of Las Vegas for many, including those charged with staging the Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight.

Golden Boy Promotions announced Friday that the anticipated showdown between Mexico’s two most popular fighters will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas rather than Jerry Jones’ massive AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“I love fighting in Las Vegas, where the most important fights have historically been, and I’m very happy to be back at the T-Mobile Arena for this huge event on Cinco de Mayo weekend,” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 knockouts) said in a prepared statement. “I know that people from all over the world … will attend to witness a great show.”

Chavez (50-2-1, 32 knockouts) called Las Vegas “the home of boxing.”

The non-title bout will be fought at a 164.5-pound catch-weight after Alvarez knocked out Amir Khan in a 155-pound catch-weight bout at T-Mobile Arena in May 2016, then won the World Boxing Organization light-middleweight belt by knocking out Liam Smith in the ninth round at AT&T Stadium.

Jones made a substantial offer to Golden Boy Promotions’ Chairman Oscar De La Hoya for the Chavez fight, with capacity for 100,000 fans — a spectacle leading to Alvarez’s promised September date against unbeaten, three-belt middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

Instead, richer seat pricing inside 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena and the tradition of big fights in Las Vegas won out.

“When my team and I talked about where to hold what will be the biggest fight of the first half of the year, we kept coming back to Las Vegas,” De La Hoya said in a prepared statement. “The biggest fights of the last 30-plus years have taken place in Vegas, and it is a natural home for this enormous event.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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