Former Middleweight beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was fine $900,000 and suspended for nine months for his positive post fight drug test following his loss to Sergio Martinez in September that showed that Chavez had marijuana in his system.
“I’d like to apologize to everyone in boxing,” Chavez told the commission. “I know this has been a very bad thing for me and my career. A lot of things have been said about it and my reputation. I respect boxing a lot. I’ve been in it a long time. I try to do the best I can and will continue to try to do the best I can because I love boxing more than ever.”
“The nine months is fine, but a 30 percent fine on a purse of $3 million, that’s extortion,” Chavez promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com. “That means Julio has to make a decision — is he going to contest the fine in court or he can elect not to fight ever again in Nevada. There’s no question the nine months is the nine months, but it’s ridiculous money, particularly since you already take out 30 percent for taxes.
“I was hoping for nine months, that worked out. The fine is an absolute stunner. You don’t do that to an athlete. Which athlete in any sport has been fined as much as $900,000?”
Under questioning from the commissioners, Chavez admitted that he smoked marijuana “eight or nine days before the fight.”
“I feel very bad about the situation,” Chavez said. “I know I committed a big error, a mistake. I wanted everyone to know this has hurt me and that I let a lot of people down. It was a big mistake and I know it has damaged me.”
Chavez was asked why he thought the commission should be lenient on him.
“I’m asking for leniency so I can fight as soon as I can, but I am willing to take my punishment,” he said. “I know I committed an error.”
Asked why he decided to smoke before the fight, Chavez said, “I was told it would help my stress. I was tense for the fight and someone mentioned it to me and that’s why I did it eight or nine days before the fight.”
Chavez would not say who suggested he smoke marijuana other than that it was a “personal friend of mine from Los Angeles.”
Chavez was asked if he had felt pressure before previous fights and answered, “Never like this time.”
On why he smoked marijuana before this fight and not any other, Chavez said, “I couldn’t tell you the exact reason why I did it. I just can tell you I was under a lot of stress and had family problems, a lot of things going on in my life. Just something I did. It was the biggest mistake and I’ll never do it again.”
Chavez said he never smoked before any other fight, but declined to answer whether he had ever smoked marijuana at all, answering only, “I wasn’t myself. I was not thinking properly
“He didn’t answer if he had smoked before and that has an impact on me making a decision,” commissioner Pat Lundvall said.
“He’s well aware of the rules of the commission,” Lundvall said.
“He’s going to fight June 16, we cleared that with the commission,” Arum said. “They told us we can promote the fight during the suspension as long as the fight takes place after the suspension is up. But we were not going to take this fight to Las Vegas anyway. We have a hold on a building in Texas or we may do the fight in the new arena in Mexico City. One thing we won’t do is have Chavez fight in Mexico during the suspension [where he could get a license].”
