Canelo Alvarez says his May 6 fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be ‘the biggest in the history of Mexico’
Mexico’s two most popular boxers, Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., will fight May 6 in a pay-per-view bout in Las Vegas, it was announced Friday.
Junior-middleweight champion Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 knockouts) will meet current super-middleweight Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) at a catch-weight at 164.5 pounds. HBO will televise the nontitle fight.
After knockout victories over welterweight Amir Khan and World Boxing Organization 154-pound champion Liam Smith last year, Alvarez, 26, and his team expressed apprehension about taking on added weight for a matchup against unbeaten three-belt middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, who has 23 consecutive knockouts.
But the opportunity for Alvarez to fight the popular Chavez Jr., who’ll turn 31 on Feb. 16, was such a powerful lure that Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, and Chavez’s powerful manager, Al Haymon, set aside their differences.
“I’m doing it because it’s a big, significant fight, the biggest in the history of Mexico and, more than anything, it’s personal – it’s pride — for me,” Alvarez said Friday. “He’s talked so bad about me for so many years. I want to give the fans the opportunity to see this fight because I want to shut him up.”
De La Hoya promoted Haymon fighters before the manager formed Premier Boxing Champions in 2015 and struck a settlement to depart Golden Boy Promotions with a slew of fighters, including heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, unbeaten welterweight champions Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman and featherweight champion Abner Mares.
De La Hoya later sued Haymon in federal court, alleging Haymon sought to engage in monopolistic practices. A person familiar with the matter but unauthorized to speak publicly said the lawsuit remains unresolved despite the Alvarez-Chavez bout agreement.
Chavez, son of the legendary brawler who was Mexico’s most popular fighter, has been plagued by weight problems and questions about his commitment dating to his 2012 middleweight championship loss to Argentina’s Sergio Martinez.
An overweight Chavez won a disputed decision over Brian Vera in 2013, then later took more than a year off. Chavez was then knocked out in the ninth round by light-heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara in 2015.
Chavez again was on the shelf for more than a year before returning to the ring in December at 167.5 pounds for a bout he won by unanimous decision over little-known Dominik Britsch in Mexico.
There will be “significant penalties” for Chavez if he fails to make weight for the Alvarez bout, said Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions.
Alvarez has to mentally prepare to fight the son of his childhood hero.
“The father’s one thing. The son’s another,” Alvarez said. “I still have affection for the father. He’s still an idol. I still respect him .… Fighting his son has nothing to do with that. Fighting his son is going to be a big fight for the history of Mexico.”
Alvarez, meanwhile, has said he intends to fight Golovkin in September in a bout that is the most anticipated in the sport. Golovkin has a March 18 date against fellow World Boxing Assn. champion Daniel Jacobs at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s a risk, moving up in weight and the things after this [Chavez] fight, but that’s what makes it a great fight. In order to have a great fight, you have to have risks,” Alvarez said.
Gomez said Chavez will help better prepare Alvarez for Golovkin.
“[Chavez is] a bigger guy, right in front of him, a guy who won’t run and hide,” Gomez said. “The focus and plan is to fight Golovkin. Both guys need to win their fights.”
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