NEW YORK (July 6, 2015) – One of the most recognizable names in boxing, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-2-1, 32 KOs) will attempt to get back on the winning track when he meets Mexico’s Marcos “Dorado” Reyes (33-2, 24 KOs) on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) on Saturday, July 18, from the Don Haskins Center at UTEP in El Paso, Texas.

Chavez is a Mexican superstar and former middleweight world champion. He’s also the son of legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., a six-time world champion in three weight classes considered, by acclamation, as the greatest Mexican fighter of all time and as one of the best boxers of all time.

So who is Marcos Reyes?

“I’m the boxer who’s going to beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.,” he said. “I’m the one who’s going to take advantage of my opportunity of a lifetime. I’m the one who’ll show everybody that I’m a better fighter than him.

“I’ve proven to be a good fighter in my career but I’m hungry to be something more. I want to make a name for myself. I’m not intimidated. I want to beat Chavez so I can fight with the best.”

Reyes, of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, is 27. An eight-year-pro, he stands 6-foot-1, the identical height of Chavez. Chavez is the naturally bigger boxer, of course, a fact that’s not been lost on anybody, including most certainly Reyes.

“When they told me about the Chavez fight, I couldn’t believe it,” Reyes said. “I just said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ I just didn’t care about anything but making the fight. I wanted this fight to happen so badly.

“I’m a 160-pound fighter, but I really didn’t care about the size difference. I just wanted the chance against him. I know I’m a better fighter than him. I can do much more than him inside the ring. I can take (a punch) at my weight, I can go toe-to-toe or I can box. I can use my legs, jab, keep busy in there. He can’t.

“That’s why I’m so excited and happy about this fight. It’s the major leagues. It’s everything. It’s my chance to show the people in the world how good I am. It can open the door to all the big fights. I’m going to leave everything I have in the ring, I’m putting my whole heart on the line.”

Chavez achieved his success at middleweight but has been scrapping at super middleweight and beyond since abandoning the 160-pound division after a loss to Sergio Martinez in September 2012.

Last April 18 on SHOWTIME, Chavez took the dangerous step to move up in weight to face the naturally larger Andrzej Fonfara. Chavez, who measured 171½ pounds at the weigh-in, Chavez went down in the ninth, made it to his corner after the bell but chose not to continue in a fight he was losing by the scores of 89-80 and 88-81 twice.

Chavez has since changed trainers and will be working with Robert Garcia for the 168-pound, 10-round rumble with Reyes. Reyes will be trained for this fight by International Boxing Hall of Famer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain. Until recently, Reyes was trained by Robert Garcia.

“This is my second fight in a row with Nacho and fourth overall,” Reyes said, “but I spent most of the last two years training with Robert at his gym. So Robert and I are on excellent terms. I know he’s training Chavez now. But I’m also sure Robert already knows that I’m a better fighter than Chavez is.”

“I saw his last fight with Fonfara; Chavez is going down now, I am going up. The right time to beat Chavez is now.”

Reyes isn’t a braggart, merely a determined, confident kid anxiously closing in on a matchup he’s wanted and dreamed of for years.

“Of course there’s pressure on me, but Chavez is the fighter with the name,” Reyes said. “Chavez is the son of a giant, but there’s a saying that goes ‘the sons of giants are dwarfs.’ They never live up to expectations and become giants like their fathers.”

Reyes does have concerns about July 18, but they don’t have anything to do with Chavez Jr.

“I am worried a little about the judges if the fight goes the distance,” he said. “Maybe I have a bad decision go against me. So I don’t want it to go to the judges. I want to finish him before the 10 full rounds.

“From the first bell, I’ll be throwing punches and I will keep throwing punches. I will do what I have to do to knock Chavez out.”

On being the son of a famous father/fighter, Reyes can empathize with what Chavez Jr., has had to endure. However, Reyes is quick to point out the inherent advantages that go along with it. He also puts some of the burden on Julio Jr., for not being his own self in the ring.

“I think it is hard to handle being the son of someone famous,” Reyes said. “His father was an icon and he wants to follow the same steps, but he didn’t have it nearly as hard as his father did. Being the son brings on its own issues. Chavez doesn’t possess the qualities his dad had yet he wants to fight like his father. But he shouldn’t. His dad was short, he’s tall. He shouldn’t try to fight like him at all.

“Chavez is his son and has the same name, but in the ring he’s just a guy with the name of Julio Cesar Chavez. He’s not the same as his father and will never be.

“I just don’t see Chavez as a better boxer than me.”

Like the vast majority of Mexican boxers, Reyes idolized Chavez Sr.

“Julio Sr. was one of my first idols. I remember watching him when I was five,” Reyes said. “He was one of the main reasons I started to box. Then when I watched Oscar De La Hoya he became one of my idols. I saw a lot of their fights. And Roy Jones Jr.’s fights, too; he was also one of my idols.”

At one time during the past year Reyes was world-ranked at middleweight in the WBC (No. 9) and the IBF (No. 15). He’s campaigned almost exclusively in Mexico where he defeated a string of tough, rugged contenders. This will be his fourth U.S. appearance, second in three fights and second in Texas.

“This is very exciting for me to fight on SHOWTIME,” the come-forward boxer-puncher said. “It’s my first main event on a major television network and I’m proud and very happy about it. This is my time and I’m going to take advantage and do what I need to do against Chavez.”

Reyes went 63-7 in the amateurs, was a six-time Mexican national champion and a representative of the Mexican National Team in both the 2006 and 2007 Pan American Games. He turned pro at age 19 in April 2007.

In his third fight Reyes captured the Mexican super welterweight title with a third-round TKO. In his seventh start and United States debut, in July 2008 in Corpus Christi, Texas, he registered a third-round TKO. Reyes, in his 11th outing, defeated one of Mexico’s all-time most popular former world champions when he outpointed Luis Ramon “Yory Boy” Campas over 12 rounds in March 2009.

Reyes made it to 13-0 before he suffered his initial loss on a 10-round decision to Amilcar Milian in 2010. After losing to Milian, Reyes won his next 19 consecutive fights before losing a controversial majority 10-round decision to El Paso’s Abie Han last Oct. 18 in Carson, Calif. Reyes’ trainer that night? Robert Garcia.

Reyes might have won two or three of the first seven rounds against Han, but he made things interesting when he scored a knockdown with 30 seconds remaining in the eighth. Han also crumpled to the canvas from a seemingly meaningless left hook to the chest that may have landed a split second after the bell sounded in the eighth. The first was scored a knockdown, the second was not.

The knockdown got Reyes back into the fight and he was on his way to winning the ninth round, too, except that the referee deducted a point from him for a late hit (short left hook to the face) that appeared to clearly connect before the bell.

“I was angry with the judges in that fight,” Reyes said. “I thought I won. I don’t know what happened. I dropped him twice in the eighth but I only got credit for one. I got credit for the first one late in the round but the second one in the closing seconds of the round I did not.”

Reyes, who has mostly campaigned at 154 and 160 pounds, tipped the scale at a personal-high 165½ pounds for his most recent fight, a unanimous eight-round decision win over David Alonso Lopez last Jan. 24. Reyes won by 77-74 twice and 76-75 despite going down in the second.

# # #

In the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING co-feature, unbeaten fighters McJoe Arroyo (16-0, 8 KOs) of Puerto Rico and Arthur Villanueva (27-0, 12 KOs) of the Philippines will clash in a 12-rounder for the vacant IBF Super Flyweight World title.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will conclude an action-packed weekend on SHOWTIME and CBS Sports that will feature three different boxing series. It begins on Friday, July 17, with a ShoBox: The New Generation quadrupleheader live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT) and ends with a day-night Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on CBS and SCB doubleheader on July 18.

Just hours earlier from the Don Haskins Center, PBC on CBS (live at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT) will offer a terrific doubleheader. In the main event, undefeated British superstar Carl Frampton (20-0, 14 KOs) will make his U.S. debut when he defends his IBF Super Bantamweight World title against Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez Jr. (25-1-2, 15 KOs). The co-main event will feature exciting heavyweight Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (36-4, 31 KOs) against an opponent to be announced.

SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 2, 2015) – 20-year old unbeaten super-featherweight sensation, Mario Barrios (9-0, 5 KOs), returns to the ring against an opponent TBA July 18, 2015. The 8-round bout will take place in Barrios’ home state at the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso, Texas on the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Marcos Reyes card.

At 6’1, Barrios who is managed by Al Hayman, is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the super-featherweight division. After campaigning at featherweight earlier in his career, the San Antonio star is getting better with each fight. The move up in weight is not permanent, but something his team feels is appropriate for this fight.

“I feel real strong at 130 pounds and that’s where I’ll be fighting at for my next fight,” said Mario Barrios. “But if a big fight come up at featherweight, I’m still ok to make that weight. With each day that goes by, I feel I’m becoming a better fighter. Every day in the gym is another day that I increase my knowledge of this sport.

Fighting in his home state of Texas is something Barrios relishes. This will be the fourth time Mario will be fighting in the Lone Star State. In his last fight, Barrios defeated Jose Del Valle by way of a 6th round knockout, a fight that took place at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.

“I love fighting in Texas in front of my family and hometown fans,” Barrios continued. “Everyone in Texas loves to see good fights and that’s my goal every time I step into the ring. I want to bring excitement to the fans and my fighting style fits that role. I don’t know who I’ll be fighting on July 18th but one thing I do know is, I’ll be letting my hands go!

Andrzej Fonfara stopped Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. after Chavez could not continue after round nine of a scheduled 12-round Light Heavyweight bout at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Fonfara dominated the action and dropped Chavez for the first time in his career from a perfect left hook in round nine. Chavez tried to fight back but he quit on the stool following the round.

Fonfara, 171 1/2 lbs of Chicago, IL is now 27-3-1 with 16 knockouts. Chavez, 172 1/2 lbs of Culican, Mexico is now 48-2-1-1.

Amir Imam won a 10-round unanimous decision over Walter Castillo in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Castillo was cut around the left eye in round five.

Imam, 140 lbs of Pompono Beach, FL won by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 and is now 17-0. Castillo, 138 lbs of Managua, NIC is now 25-3.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR.: 171 ½ Pounds

ANDRZEJ FONFARA: 171 ½ Pounds

AMIR IMAM: 140 Pounds

WALTER CASTILLO: 138 Pounds

SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME:

OSCAR ESCANDON: 121 ¾ Pounds

MOISES FLORES: 121 ¼ Pounds

OMAR CHAVEZ: 159 Pounds

RICHARD GUTIERREZ: 158 ½ Pounds

(SHOWTIME EXTREME Swing Bout)

FABIAN MAIDANA: 146 ¼ Pounds

CORY VOM BAUR: 145 ½ pounds

# # #

“Chavez Jr. vs. Fonfara”, a 12-round light heavyweight bout co-promoted by Goossen Promotions and Chavez Promotions that takes place at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). In the co-main event, Amir Imam faces Walter Castillo in a 10-round jr. welterweight showdown. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets for the event are priced at $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes, fees and service charges, are available for purchase online at AXS.com.

For more information visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jcchavezjr1, @andrzej_fonfara, @StubHubCenter and @Swanson_Comm, follow the conversation using #ChavezFonfara, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

LOS ANGELES (April 16, 2015) – Popular Mexican superstar and former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and dangerous brawler Andrzej Fonfara participated in the final the final press conference Thursday at Crowne Plaza Hotel LAX, just two days before Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader.
Chavez (48-1-1, 32 KOs) of Culiacan, Mexico, and Fonfara (26-3, 15 KOs) of Chicago by way of Radon, Poland, will meet in the 12-round light heavyweight main event live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT) from StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Chavez will make his eagerly awaited return to the ring and first start for new trainer Joe Goossen.

Also participating in today’s press conference was undefeated top 10-ranked super lightweight Amir Imam (16-0, 14 KOs), of Davie, Fla., by way of Albany, N.Y. who will put his unblemished record on the line against fellow power-puncher Walter Castillo (25-2, 18 KOs) (25-2, 18 KOs), of Managua, Nicaragua, in the 10-round co-feature on SHOWTIME.
On SHOWTIME EXTREME® (8 p.m. ET/PT) this Saturday, WBA Interim Super Bantamweight World Champion Oscar Escandon (24-1, 16 KOs), of Tolima, Colombia, will make the first defense of his 122-pound title when he faces undefeated Moises “El Chucky” Flores (22-0, 1 NC, 16 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico.
In the SHOWTIME EXTREME co-feature, Omar “El Businessman” Chavez (32-3-1, 22 KOs), of Culiacan, the younger brother of Chavez, Jr. and son of legendary Julio Cesar Sr., will face Richard Gutierrez (28-15-1, 17 KOs), of Arjona, Colombia, in an eight-round middleweight fight. Also featured on the telecast, time permitting, will be a six-round match between unbeaten Argentine welterweight Fabian “TNT” Maidana, of Santa Fe, Argentina, the brother of former world champion Marcos Maidana, who’ll be opposed by Cory Vom Baur (2-2, 0 KOs), of Vancouver, Wash.
Tickets for the event co-promoted by Goossen Promotions and Chavez Promotions are priced at $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes, fees and service charges, and are on sale online at AXS.com.
What the fighters, trainers and executives said Thursday:
JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR., Former World Champion
“I had a great training camp. I feel better than ever. I am ready for the fight.

“I know that this is a new weight class for me. I realize that Fonfara is very tough and bigger than me, but I am up for the challenge.

“I have worked on my boxing during my one year off, and I am very excited and motivated to get back in the ring.

“I have worked so hard for this fight because I am fighting in a new weight class. I must punch harder, so I have focused on getting stronger during this training camp.

“I have a great chin, I know how to take punches and my conditioning is great. A lot of fighters can take a punch, but I can take multiple punches and not be hurt.

“I think that Andrzej Fonfara is one of the best fighters in the light heavyweight division. Inside of boxing, everyone knows who Fonfara is. He knocked down one of the best boxers in the world in Adonis Stevenson.

“Fonfara is disciplined in the ring, but he doesn’t vary his punches.

“I understand that my dad didn’t want me to take this fight. I had bigger names I could’ve fought, but I think that Fonfara is a great challenge for me and I like the challenge.

“I would like to thank SHOWTIME for making this fight happen.”

ANDRZEJ FONFARA, World Title Challenger
“I’m prepared very well and I’m ready for this fight. It’s been a great camp like always. I train hard for each fight. I’m a tough boxer who is feeling great. The weight is good and everything is perfect.

“I must put everything into Saturday night and I will win the fight.

“I must look even better than I did against Stevenson. Everyone said I looked good, but I lost the fight. I didn’t want congratulations because I did not win the fight. But this time I will win the fight. I’m ready for a decision or for a knockout.

“I’m ready with a couple of plans. I don’t want to run around the ring, I want to fight tough. I’m going to use my jab and my right hand, which is my best punch.

“I’m not worried about what his father said about not fighting me. Chavez Jr. wants to fight and I will show him that his father was right.

“It doesn’t matter how I win, I want to win this fight and get my rematch with Adonis Stevenson.

“Chavez Jr. is a great fighter. He uses a lot of combinations and has a powerful punch that I must be ready for. I want to show the whole world how good I am when I win this fight on Saturday.

“If I get the chance, I’m going to knock him out. It’s boxing so you never know what will happen. I want to box round-by-round and win this fight.

“I lost the fight with Stevenson but I showed that I was a good boxer. I’m a much smarter fighter now because of that experience. That was a fight at the top championship level.

“It doesn’t matter what Chavez Jr. says at a press conference, we’ll be in the ring Saturday and everything will happen there.

“Fan’s can expect heavy punches, knockdowns and a great fight.”

AMIR IMAM, Undefeated Super Lightweight Contender
“I’m confident going into this fight because of how I train. I have put my heart and soul into this sport since I moved to Florida three years ago. I left everything behind to better myself.

“I’m going to stay smart and composed in there and do everything I can to get the win.

“I don’t feel like I need the knockout to come away with a successful fight. But, you better believe that if there is an opportunity to knock him out, then I will take advantage of it.

“In 2015, I want to become a world champion. This is my breakout year. A lot of people have been buzzing about me. I want to become the WBC world champion, that’s what I’m heading for.

“I know he’s [Castillo] a good opponent, he’s got a great resume, and he’s coming to fight. He has a great record, so that alone shows what he’s capable of. Come Saturday night may the better man win.

“I’ve boxed styles like [his] plenty of times, but you never know, he could come out different Saturday night.

“I’m ready to put on a great show for the SHOWTIME audience.”

WALTER CASTILLO, Super Lightweight Contender
“I’m coming here to fight. I can tell you one thing, Amir Imam made a big mistake by taking this fight.

“I’ve fought a lot of tough fighters; my two losses were by decisions where I feel I was robbed. I’ve fought better fighters than Amir has.

“Come Saturday, I’m going to announce to the whole world that Walter Castillo is here to stay and he’s going to be a world champion.”

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ SR.
“Being in Los Angeles is like being in Mexico for me; I have had many great memories. I became the world champion for this first time here and my son also became the world champion for the first time here, too.

“Julio definitely has a very difficult fight ahead of him.

“If I was Julio’s manager, I wouldn’t have taken this fight. Fonfara is a difficult and tough fighter.

“My son wants to fight fighters of quality and wants credibility in boxing.

“Julio has worked and trained very hard for this fight .He has the capability to win and we expect that it will go very well.”

JOE GOOSSEN, Chavez’ Trainer
“Julio has a window here the next five, six, seven years that he can capitalize on.

“I think he’s left the childish stuff behind, and we’re all guilty of being childish.

“I think that Julio has surprised his father with his determination heading into this fight.
He’s got a left hook to the liver that just sends a shock through your body.

“He’s not soft. He’s a real fighter. I have been around enough fighters to know that he’s a real fighter. Number one, he has the never-say- die attitude in there.

“We’re up against a very well-schooled, blue collar, workmanlike fighter in Fonfara.

“He is an athletic, improvisational fighter, in that you don’t know where everything’s coming from.

“I’ve watched a lot of Fonfara tape, and he pretty much repeats what he does, but he repeats it well.

“This is going to be a battle. You’ve got two contrasting styles and personalities.

“Julio has 51 fights under his belt. He’s no rookie and he comes from a great bloodline. (In the short time I’ve been with him, it has been) more of an association than a dictatorial effort between the two of us.

“Based on former camps, he’s never really extracted himself from comfortable surroundings and put himself in a position where he is completely isolated like he was in Lake Tahoe.”

SAM COLONNA, Fonfara’s Trainer
“Fonfara could turn it up whenever. He could be down on the scorecards and one punch he throws could change someone’s world. He’s proven in the past that he has power in both hands.

“The styles in this fight are perfect for each other. When people ask about the fight I say it could go either way, it depends on who catches the other first.

“I’m looking for Fonfara to dominate, but Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is a warrior, he comes to fight, he knows how to go to the body like his father used to, so we’ve been working on all of these strategies.

“A knockout win would be a dream come true to me. That’s what I’ve been looking for all these years. Winning this huge fight would change everything for Fonfara and myself.

“This camp that Andrzej had was the best we’ve ever had. He worked hard, he had time to train and there’s no excuses.

“We’re coming to fight a war. Don’t forget that wars are won by strategy.

“People say to listen to your father. His father told him not to take this fight, but he took it anyway and that was a mistake.

“I see this fight not going past 10 rounds, with us getting the knockout.”

STACY MCKINLEY, Imam’s Trainer
“Amir has always trained very hard, but I did see a change in him in this training camp after the last fight. He has stepped up his training by two levels.

“He learned a lot about his fight against [Fidel Maldonado] under the bright SHOWTIME lights at the MGM Grand.

“Amir is always confident going into each fight, but he made a mistake in the Maldonado fight. He rolled his right hand and forgot about the left hand and was knocked down. He had to pay for his mistakes but it’s all a learning experience, he still has only 16 professional fights under his belt.

“Castillo has a great jab and good combinations. A guy like that throws a lot of punches, but there is a technique to breaking down a fighter like that.

“We can’t spend a lot of time on the ropes, and we must go after his body because his body is weak. Castillo is going to get knocked out on Saturday.

“I think that Amir is going to open up a lot of eyes on Saturday.”

# # #

“Chavez Jr. vs. Fonfara” is a 12-round bout that takes place at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

For more information visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jcchavezjr1, @andrzej_fonfara, @StubHubCenter and @Swanson_Comm, follow the conversation using #ChavezFonfara, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

VAN NUYS, Calif. (April 13, 2015) – Former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. held a media workout on Friday in front of a packed house at Ten Goose Boxing Gym in Van Nuys, Calif., as the Mexican superstar prepares to make his SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® debut on Saturday, April 18, at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

In the main event of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader, Mexican superstar Chavez, Jr. (48-1-1, 32 KOs) meets dangerous brawler Andrzej Fonfara (26-3, 15 KOs) in a 12-round light heavyweight bout.

In the 10-round co-feature, top 10 ranked junior welterweight contender Amir Imam (16-0, 14 KOs) will aim to move one step closer to a world title opportunity when he makes his second start of 2015 against fellow power-puncher Walter Castillo (25-2, 18 KOs).

Julio Cesar Chavez, arguably the greatest Mexican fighter of all time, made an appearance during his son’s workout to show his support and offer words of encouragement.

Here’s what Chavez Jr., Julio Cesar Chavez and Joe Goossen (trainer) had to say Friday at the Los Angeles-area gym:

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR., Former World Champion
“I am very focused going into this fight. I have changed a lot mentally this past year.

“I am fighting [Andrzej] Fonfara now because I like big opponents. I like the challenge of fighting good, hungry fighters. Just because Fonfara doesn’t have the name recognition of other fighters, it doesn’t make him an easy fighter. He’s tough.

“I feel comfortable at light heavyweight. Any time that you can add a couple pounds, you feel better. Although I will be fighting at 175, I feel most comfortable at 168 as a boxer. Since I have had one year off, it was a better choice to fight at this weight so that I could see how my body feels.

“Since I have added a few pounds, I have become a more physical and stronger boxer. The light heavyweight division has very big and physical contenders.

“Joe [Goossen] is a great trainer. He is a great motivator to his fighters and makes them better. I have worked very hard with him for the 35 days we spent together in Lake Tahoe.

“When I was training with Freddie Roach, it was very different. I think Freddie is a great trainer, but Joe also has a lot of experience and we have made a connection together.

“I really liked training in Lake Tahoe. The altitude, the ring, everything I needed was there. I felt very comfortable up there and I would like to come back there to train for a fight again.

“I promise a great fight, this is a very exciting fight. Fonfara isn’t an easy opponent, but he has never seen an opponent like me.”

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ SR.
“I am here to support and be with my son. I try to give him good advice. I tell him to train and prepare hard, and fortunately he is doing that well.

“I think Joe [Goossen] is doing a great job, we are on the same page. We are all focused on him [Chavez Jr.] getting to the fight well prepared. This fight requires great preparation because he is going into the fight at a weight that’s higher than his normal weight and he is facing a very tough opponent.

“He must go in 100 percent to win this fight.

“I think there has been a 180 degree turn in his career. I see this as a positive because he can really develop his ability and looks very well prepared.

“I would’ve liked to have seen him take a tune up fight instead because of his long layoff; I particularly didn’t want this fight.

“Julio [Chavez Jr.] wants credibility in this sport and that’s why he made the decision to take this fight, even though it’s a dangerous decision. He must be very prepared for this fight.”

JOE GOOSSEN, Chavez Jr.s’ Trainer
“I’ve been asked over the years who the one fighter was that I would like to work and my answer was always Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

“I’ve always really admired his style. I had known him as a kid, his father is a legend. It had always seemed like a dream job for me, and out of nowhere I got it.

“Lake Tahoe was tremendous for training camp. You are isolated and it’s not an easy thing. When you aren’t training you are sitting in a hotel room. You are deprived the comforts of home, but it really gives you that concentration and dedication factor and I think that will interpret into some positive results.

“I matured over my years, once I had a kid and a family and I think the same has happened with Julio. Life becomes clearer when you put away the immaturity. You realize that you have a future and if you really want to access what’s available to you, then you are going to have to work hard and dedicate yourself to it.

“Going to Lake Tahoe and really working hard is a sign of maturity and I think that’s what Julio is going through right now. He really showed it by leaving his home and spending an extended period of time up there. To me that is a great indicator that he is mature, dedicated and taking this fight very seriously.

“Of course I believe Julio is ready to fight Fonfara. The fight was made before I even came on board, but that’s the challenge that I am presented with. You must figure out a good game plan and figure out what you’re up against.

“Just because Julio has been out a year doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a cake walk for Fonfara. We went up to Lake Tahoe with one thing in mind, and that’s winning this fight and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

# # #
“Chavez Jr. vs. Fonfara”, a 12-round light heavyweight bout co-promoted by Goossen Promotions and Chavez Promotions that takes place at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). In the co-main event, Amir Imam faces Walter Castillo in a 10-round jr. welterweight showdown. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets for the event are priced at $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes, fees and service charges, are available for purchase online at AXS.com.

For more information visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jcchavezjr1, @andrzej_fonfara, @StubHubCenter and @Swanson_Comm, follow the conversation using #ChavezFonfara, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

Kelly Swanson

Thanks, everybody, for joining us today for this great call to officially announce a very exciting match up. And without further ado, to talk a little bit about that match up, I’m going to introduce Chris DeBlasio, Vice President of Sports Communications for SHOWTIME.

Chris DeBlasio

Thanks, Kelly. I’m going to keep this brief. I know we want to talk to the fighters on this card. But I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t represent for Stephen Espinoza, who couldn’t be on the call today, how very excited we are for the debut of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on our network on Saturday, April 18, for our SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader. It’s going to be a great night. On the call with us and in the ring across from Julio Chavez Jr. on that night is Andrzej Fonfara, a man that we know that really comes to fight. He brought it on his first fight on SHOWTIME last year when he fought Adonis Stevenson. And that was a thrilling affair. And we’re looking forward to a real test and a great challenge for Chavez Jr. And we’re excited to have him on behalf of all of us at SHOWTIME. We welcome both of you guys and, of course, thanks to all the press for being on the call. Thank you, Kelly.

K. Swanson

Thank you, everybody. Okay. We’re going to go ahead and introduce the fighters and their trainers for you. First we have Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., former middleweight world champion, Andrzej Fonfara, the former world title challenger, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. — we all know who he is, and certainly out of respect to the great legend that he is, we welcome him to the call — Joe Goossen, who is Julio’s trainer, and Sam Colonna, who is Fonfara’s trainer.

So, at this time, what I’d like to do is ask Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to make opening remarks about this fight and a little bit about what he’s doing now in training camp and just how he feels about the fight.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

I’m training very well. I’m training (at a higher) level than the best. I’m doing more physical training (and I’m getting closer to the) weight of 172 pounds. And I think I’m in great shape, you know? I have a lot of time and don’t stay in this kind of shape.

K. Swanson

Okay. Now let’s hear from Andrzej Fonfara. Andrzej, could you talk a little bit and tell us how you feel about fighting Jr.?

Andrzej Fonfara

I’m feeling great. I think Chavez Jr. is a great fighter, world champion. And you know, it’s good fight for me. I trained hard for the fight. We got very good camp. Now, we start a sparring session. You know, my weight is good. My training’s–all trainings are good. I spent two weeks in Houston. I’m trained there, too. Then I’m back to Chicago. We finished camp here. And I’m–you know, I’m ready for meet Chavez in the ring April 18 and show him I’m better boxer.

K. Swanson

Okay. Excellent. Thank you so much. Next we’ll have the trainers say something very brief before we turn it over to the media for call. So, Joe Goossen, he is Julio Cesar Chavez’s trainer at this point. Joe, would you like to make a couple comments?

Joe Goossen

Thank you. Number one, I want to thank SHOWTIME because we’re very excited about performing for SHOWTIME on Julio’s debut fight with SHOWTIME. And that being said, you know, Julio is very, very serious about this fight. Like Fonfara, he trained for a few weeks in Los Angeles. And now, we’re up in Lake Tahoe, up in the high altitude in the mountains here. It’s very secluded. It’s very concentrated work. Julio is — I can just tell you this — is very dedicated to this fight, mentally, physically, and spiritually. He’s shown me that he’s willing to work very hard for this fight, which always works out well when a fighter cooperates in training. And he’s doing that 110 percent. And I can’t tell you how happy I am, number one, to be working with Julio Jr. It’s been something that I’ve always wanted to do. And of course, I know his father very well. And I’m very honored to be a part of the team. And I can’t wait ’til April 18 to display all of Julio’s talents and to go there. And we’ve got one objective. And that’s to win the fight. With the way Julio’s training, I’m very confident in what we’re doing right now. So, I’m very happy with that. And I’m sure Andrzej’s doing the same thing, training very hard. With that being said, thank you.

K. Swanson

Thank you. Now, Sam Colonna, if you could give us a comment, and then we’ll open it up for questions.

Sam Colonna

Well, first, I’d like to thank everybody for getting this together. It’s an honor to be part of it. But, you know, before they picked Julio Cesar Chavez to fight, they were throwing names at us. And I would say no. And another name came. I would say no. As soon as they said, ‘What about Julio Cesar Chavez,’ I said, ‘That’s the fight we want.’ The style is perfect for us. He comes right at us. And it’s going to be a great fight for Andrzej to show what the power and the dedication he has towards it. He knows that this fight here is going to bring him to the top. And it’s an honor to fight Julio Cesar Chavez. It’s somebody I wanted him to fight for years. But the weight was never the same. Andrzej moved up. And then now, it’s perfect. So, it’s going to be a great fight. I think we’re going to bring a lot of action to this fight. And it’s going to be a jammed action fight. I’m glad that this fight happened. And I can’t wait for April 18.

K. Swanson

Okay. Thank you. And now, last but not least, I’d like to get a couple comments from Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. about his son fighting Fonfara and what he anticipates that will be like. Julio?

Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

I didn’t want this fight. I know that, for my son, I know it’s a hard fight. It’s a difficult fight. And I didn’t want it. Fonfara is very strong. But my son wanted this fight. He wanted fighters that have a high category. He wanted a hard fight. And he believed that winning this fight will give him more credibility. And that’s why he chose Fonfara.

Q
This is for Chavez Jr. Julio, how do you feel coming off a year layoff?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.
I feel good. I know it’s difficult when you’re off. It’s difficult to regain your timing. But I’ve been training, working at my skills. And I think, you know, I’m very confident because I have spent all my life in boxing. I’m in the 13th year of my professional career. So I don’t think this is a problem because this fight is at 172 pounds. I don’t need to have a problem with weight. And at 172, I feel good in sparring. I feel good in training. And I think I’m ready for this fight and ready to win another world title.

Q
Speaking of that world title, how do you feel about guys like Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.

Oh, these guys very strong. But I think, after this fight, I’m going down to 168 and stay in this weight class. One or two years ago I moved to 175 but that was too much for my body. Now, I’m 168. But, for the one year off, this fight is at 172.

Q
Andrzej, how do you feel physically coming off the Adonis Stevenson battle?

A. Fonfara

I think I showed against Stevenson that I was a fighter. Physically, I feel good now. Since that fight, I’ve been training much harder. I think, because of that fight, I’m a better boxer because, you know, I learn a lot in fights. I’m ready for Chavez, I’ve trained hard for this fight, like, you know, Chavez says. He’s trained hard for this fight. But I always train hard. It doesn’t matter if it’s Chavez or whoever else, I’m always training hard.

Q
This is for both Julio Jr. and Sr. For Jr., obviously, there’s a benefit and maybe a drawback, too, to having such a famous name. Benefit is that everybody knows your father and what he accomplished. And that brings you attention early in your career as it has. The possible drawback is that you’re always going to be compared to him, which some would say was almost an impossible, impossibly high standard to try to live up to. From your perspective and also from your father’s, what about that, the burden and the benefit of having such a famous name?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.

I think I’m well respected because I’m world champion. But, you know, I think this is an advantage. But this doesn’t help me in the ring. I’m proven in the ring. I beat the champions. I beat the number one, number two, number three and number four at 168 pounds. And I’ve showed everybody, the people, that I can fight, too. I am a good fighter and (I put on good fights). And people like see my fights. My style is a good style for the people. And I think this fight, too, the style of Fonfara is to come to fight, he’s a fighter with a great heart and great chin. And both of us will make a great fight.

J. Cesar Chavez Sr.

The name has helped. Obviously, it’s helped get attention, but we are very different. He — my son fights at a higher weight than I fought. And so, there’s a lot of difference. Physically, he’s a lot bigger than I was. So, there’s good and bad, and we understand that. But, he’s his own fighter just like I was.

Q
Sam, you mentioned earlier that you had a lot of names mentioned for Andrzej before you finally settled on Chavez. Are you willing to reveal some of those names?

S. Colonna
You know what? I really don’t have them right in front of me. But, there were at least three, four different guys they were throwing at us. And as soon as they said Chavez, I go, ‘That’s the guy we want,’ because, like I said earlier, the style is perfect for us. And we don’t have to look for him too much, you know? He’s going to be right there for us. So, the style is really, really mixed good.

Q
Andrzej, you’ve fought at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight. How does it feel fighting at 172? And do you see yourself moving possibly down in weight in the near future, or do you feel you’re a true light heavyweight?

A. Fonfara
I’m a light heavyweight fighter. That’s because I’m fighting with Chavez. That’s why we have a catch-weight. And that’s why I go down. I usually fight at 175, at least for maybe two years. And this my weight. It’s not impossible for me to go, like, two, three pounds down because, you know, when I fought Stevenson last year in May, I was 173 then. And I felt good then. Two pounds down is not problem for me. Should be good, you know? Just more diet, more work in the last week. And I should be good.

Q
Julio Jr., how much of a relief is it for you to finally fight after a year? I know it’s been trying for you with the whole lawsuit and everything. So, how does it feel for you to know you finally have a fight up ahead?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.
I feel good. I feel great, you know, because this problem offended me a lot mentally more than physically. But I’m really happy that this problem is better now. I have a fight in front of me. And you know, I’m not remembering anything about that. I’m just focusing on the fight April 18 for Fonfara. I feel good, I feel great. You know I can’t tell you with words how I feel because I’m better to the ring. (But I’m very excited to be returning) to the ring.

Q
Joe Goossen, which of the skills of Julio Cesar are translating the best for the light heavyweight division?

J. Goossen

Well, first off, Julio is a well-rounded fighter. I mean, we’ve seen him box before. And we’ve seen him pressure before. I don’t want to tip my hand on what we’re going to do but we have studied the films. We’ve talked about the films of Andrzej. And of course, we’re developing a game plan. I think the weight — basically, 172 is very close to 68. It’s a weight he’s fought at before. So I don’t think the weight is going to be a problem at all. The way he’s working right now and the weight he’s at right now, I think we’re going to be able to hit the 172 mark quite easily. But, again, as far as what skills he has that we’re going to bring to the table is something that I think is private to us. But Julio Jr. is a multi-talented fighter. Just watching him spar yesterday, when we needed a box, he did it beautifully. And when we needed pressure in a few rounds, he pulled it off exactly how I like it. So I’m very confident that whatever style we bring and game plan we bring, we’re going to be successful with it.

Q
Can you make the weight?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.
Yes. Sure. I’ll make 172 because I pay $100,000 per a pound (if I don’t). I can’t pay that kind of money. I’ve never weighed more than 172 in a fight. The only fight I made 172 is with Brian Vera, the first fight. But in all the rest of my career of boxing, in all my championship bouts (I never didn’t make weight). I don’t know why you ask me that. Okay. Maybe, I’m a bigger fighter, you know? I know I am a bigger fighter. But, I don’t have problems. And (if he does) not make the weight, maybe I’ll win $100,000 more.

Q
So, Julio, you’re hoping for $100,000 from Andrzej Fonfara, but you’re saying that he should not hope for $100,000 from you?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.

No, no. I think that the fight’s in the right way. And he’s not going to take advantage of anybody, you know, because (I come in lighter). You know, the weight is pretty good I think for both fighters.

Q
Can you talk about your decision to have Joe Goossen in your corner, you feel, as a result of the Vera fight, that you owe the fans a performance?

J. Cesar Chavez Jr.

Well, I’ve known Joe Goossen for a long time. He’s a great trainer. He’s a great person. He’s somebody that motivates fighters. And we have a true connection. We’ve connected again. And I like him a lot. I like that he’s a hard worker, just like me. And I think, together, we’re going to do really well. With regards to the performance, I can tell you that, this show is for the people. It’s going to be a great fight. It’s going to be a better fight. And now, with my new promotion company and with knowing who my opponent is going to be in advance, I think it’s going to be a great night.

K. Swanson

That was our last question. So, again, we really appreciate the fighters taking time to join us. We look forward to this fantastic matchup between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andrzej Fonfara on Saturday, April 18, from StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., live on SHOWTIME at 10:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. PT. Thank you so much for joining us.

* * *

Tickets for the event, which is co-promoted by Goossen Promotions and Chavez Promotions, are priced at $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes, fees and service charges, are on sale now and are available for purchase online at AXS.com.

Chavez Jr. vs. Fonfara, is a 12-round bout that takes place at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

For more information visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jcchavezjr1, @andrzej_fonfara, @StubHubCenter and @Swanson_Comm, follow the conversation using #ChavezFonfara, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Boxing was never meant to be the family business. Fathers fight so their sons don’t have to. That sounds like a sensible plan, or at least a good way to avoid scars, concussions and everything else that comes from a livelihood in the ring.

But it’s never been one that could be applied to Julio Cesar Chavez and the son known simply as Junior.

It seems as if Junior just can’t escape his given name or the legend it means to Mexico. There have been times when it looked as if he might just walk away from his role as the heir-apparent.

But he hasn’t, not even amid boos for his two performances against Bryan Vera, or his country-club training camp for Sergio Martinez, or his late-night meals, or fondness for the substance that leads to the munchies.

Through it all, he always seems to follow that path up the steps, through the ropes and onto the unforgiving canvas that defined his dad. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be back there again on April 18 at the StubHub Center in Carson Calif., at a 172-pound catch-weight against a top 10 light-heavyweight, Andzrej Fonfara.

“It feels great to get back,’’ Junior said during a conference call Wednesday.

Great, yet never more problematic than now.

There’s the dangerous Fonfara, who has enough skill and power to make him regret his return. It’s his first fight in 13 months. Since losing a piece of the middleweight title to Martrinez in a bout one-sided for 11 rounds and wild in the 12th, Junior has fought only twice, both against Vera, in 2013 and 2014. He has changed management, signing with advisor Al Haymon. Promoter Bob Arum is suing, alleging that he still owes him fight.

He’s also got a new trainer in Joe Goossen and will make his debut on Showtime after years on HBO. Changes abound. Question is: Has he?

His comeback against Fonfara is intriguing because it’s a chance to see if boxing’s Peter Pan has finally grown up. Throughout his career, enablers have surrounded him. Then, there were the fans, always there with an excuse for every misstep.

If he couldn’t make weight, a new one was negotiated. If he decided he wanted to train at his Las Vegas condo at 2 a.m. and do his road work around the couch instead of on the street, his former trainer, Freddie Roach, would be there.

But Arum and Roach are gone. So, too, are many of the Mexican fans. They have either given up on him in exasperation or moved on and into the Canelo Alvarez’ camp.

Against Fonfara, there will be none of the usual excuses or loopholes that have always been there like a silver spoon. Junior will have to behave and perhaps fight like Senior more then he ever has.

As always, dad will be there. He was even on the conference call.

“I did not want this fight for my son,’’ Julio Cesar Chavez said. “Fonfara is very strong. But Julio wants to show how good he is.”

How mature he is too.

CARSON, Calif. (March 9, 2015) – The return of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1, 32 KOs) comes to StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., on Saturday April 18 as the Mexican superstar makes his SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® debut against exciting brawler Andrzej Fonfara (26-3, 15 KOs) in a 12-round light heavyweight bout, live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

Tickets for the event, which is co-promoted by Goossen Promotions and Chavez Promotions, are priced at $200, $150, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes, fees and service charges, go on sale today at 12 p.m. PT and are available for purchase online at AXS.com.

“I’m excited to get back in the ring and remind everyone that I’m one of the best fighters in the world,” said Chavez Jr. “I have a tough test on April 18, but I am going to pass with flying colors and I look forward to taking on any challengers after that.”

“This is another great opportunity for me and I’m very thankful to have it,” said Fonfara. “I’ve been in there with the best fighters in the world and as always I’m going to try to put on a show for the fans and walk out victorious.”

“Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andrzej Fonfara are two of the hardest punching boxers in the sport” said Tom Brown of Goossen Promotions. “This fight will be an epic battle of wills and will add another chapter to the long list of outstanding fights that have taken place at the StubHub Center.”

“As a fight fan, I love watching Julio fight. As a network executive, I’m thrilled for him to make his SHOWTIME debut on April 18,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “Julio is one of the most exciting and popular boxers in the sport today, and with a new team behind him, we expect big things from him in 2015. But Andrzej Fonfara is a real test, and he’s proven he’s not intimidated by any opponent.”

The oldest son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez, the 29-year-old is a former middleweight world champion looking to earn himself another world title shot. Born in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, Chavez Jr. turned pro in 2003 and won his first 23 fights. His first blemish came against Carlos Molina, who he fought to a draw in 2005, before coming back to beat him two months later. After running his record to 41-0-1, he earned a middleweight world title shot against Sebastian Zbik, which he won by majority decision. He would go on to successfully defend his belt against Peter Manfredo Jr., Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee before losing a decision in 2012 to Sergio Martinez. Most recently Chavez Jr. defeated rugged contender Bryan Vera twice, first in 2013 and again in their 2014 rematch.

Born in Warsaw, Poland and fighting out of Chicago, Fonfara is a late-bloomer who has put together a string of impressive recent performances. Last year, the 27-year-old battled lineal light heavyweight world champion Adonis Stevenson for 12 tough rounds and despite dropping a decision, he impressed a lot of fans with his grit and determination. Victorious over former world champions Byron Mitchell, Glen Johnson and Gabriel Campillo, Fonfara’s most recent win came in November 2014 when he dominated Doudou Ngumbu in his adopted home of Chicago, earning him this chance against Chavez Jr.

Chavez Jr. vs. Fonfara, is a 12-round bout that takes place at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will also be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

For more information visit www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at @SHOSports, @jcchavezjr1, @andrzej_fonfara, @StubHubCenter and @Swanson_Comm, follow the conversation using #ChavezFonfara, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing or visit the SHOWTIME Boxing Blog at http://theboxingblog.sho.com.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is looking to fight Andrzej Fonfara in April despite Top Rank claiming to have an exisiting contract.

“We were offered the fight and we took the fight. Both sides agreed to fight, but I can’t tell you the place, I can’t tell you the weight, I can’t tell you the number of rounds, I can’t tell you what network it is on,” said Fonfara promoter Leon Margules said. “But I think it’s a great fight between two fighters who always make good fights. Andrzej understands how important the fight is for his career and he is pretty excited about it.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told ESPN.com that he would do everything he could to stop the fight and have Chavez honor his agreement.

“I can tell you one thing — Leon has joined the list of defendants,” Arum said. “They’re violating our contract and we’ll take action. We’re going to take serious action.

“NBC is going to be party to (the lawsuit) also,” Arum said. “I don’t think Showtime will do the fight because they know HBO’s got rights (to Chavez).”

“We’ve offered to do our last fight. Just let us promote our last fight and then they can walk away,” Arum said. “The lawyers have talked. They weren’t getting anywhere. They may resume talking, who knows?”

The fight figures to be at a catch weight somewhere between the 175-pound light heavyweight limit and the 168-pound super middleweight division. Arum said he was told the bout is supposed to be at 172 pounds.

By Bart Barry-

Editor’s note: For part 1, please click here.

*

The week that began in February, ended in March and became the pinnacle of HBO boxing’s viewership feats in 2014 did not fool any of its participants or witnesses and still hasn’t. The ratings phenom who is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is not phenomenal at all when his numbers are put against nearly any other televised athletic competition, and his rematch with Bryan Vera in March was treated with contempt by most aficionados who treated it at all.

Then there was its choice of venue, a city in Texas – most despised of all boxing states by pundits who do not reside here. Chavez returned to Texas, place of lost drug tests and delayed weighins and scorekeepers decried by Paulie Malignaggi, to ensure he was given benefits of the doubt California and Nevada occasionally show dereliction in granting Son of the Legend, but this time he didn’t much need them.

There was a doubt in no one’s mind but Vera’s and maybe Ronnie Shields’ that a semiserious Chavez would beat Vera convincingly, and what suspense remained after the weighin expired with Chavez’s tardy arrival at the arena, as there were rising doubts at ringside he would bother being in his dressing room at his HBO- or commission-appointed time. Chavez does not care a whit about American television; he knows the herculean efforts made to keep him off premium-cable airwaves during the early part of his career, he knows his ratings happen in spite of HBO’s coverage of him and not because of it, he knows fully half his American audience watches solely in the hopes his ass gets beaten nearly to death, and he knows 90 percent of the other half of his viewers do so out of abiding loyalty to the Legend, not Son of.

Chavez Jr. is a millionaire despite his worst efforts, and he is just aware enough to be tickled by it. If you need a reason to like the kid, try this: He’s made absurdity his business partner.

*

The week that began in February, ended in March and became the pinnacle of HBO boxing’s viewership feats in 2014 gave the IABWA an occasion for its first meeting of the year. The association, such as it is, was born of Kelsey McCarson’s perennial rejection by the BWAA’s membership committee, and it was born of camaraderie, not protest; the folks who run the BWAA are for the most part good and decent, and Kelsey is good and decent, and if the two sides ever had aligned it would have been happier for both but much sadder for Kelsey’s followers on Twitter who so enjoy Kelsey’s satirical criticisms of the true boxing writers association.

We are all better and funnier than our public faces, and this holds particularly true for boxing writers – a group of talented and often hurt people describing other talented and hurt people hurting people.

There may be no better place than ringside, whether in Michigan or Colorado or Arizona, but in San Antonio, the next best place is McNay Art Museum, The McNay, where I took my friend and houseguest David Greisman hours before Chavez-Vera 2. David liked the pieces by Picasso, Matisse, Renoir and Mondrian well enough, but none of them resonated with him quite nearly like lines from his beloved E. E. Cummings do.

*

The week that began in February, ended in March and became the pinnacle of HBO boxing’s viewership feats in 2014 saw more of Russian light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev than one anticipated. He was at a Doubletree mixer with promoters and managers and HBO handlers, he was at a special-access dinner at A—-r, he was ringside at Alamodome, and he was at Mi Tierra restaurant after Chavez finished beating Vera. He wore a full beard and showed a Russian interpretation of a trait once attributed to American President Richard Nixon: His smile and his face did not appear to be in the same place at the same time.

Kovalev sold menace, mostly, and the more menacing for failing to be in any coherent way friendly while publicly playing a friendly person. That he was later unable to beat Bernard Hopkins to unconsciousness tarnished his menacing image more than anyone now admits and few will realize for the next two or three years of relentless HBO promotion, and the contortions Kovalev’s absence of menace in November bent aficionados into would be amusing were they not tragic:

“No, no, a knockout, what? No! I wanted to see Kovalev cautiously outpoint a man about to turn 50. I wasn’t sure he could do it, and man, when he did, it made my year!”

Right, guys.

*

The week that began in February, ended in March and became the pinnacle of HBO boxing’s viewership feats in 2014 was seen by most who gathered round the Alamodome for the Friday weighin as the starter’s pistol for another decent year to come. Had you asked any of them if they believed the next evening’s match would be viewed by more HBO subscribers than another, to a person, they would have chuckled or said no or chuckled and said no. It was a testament to 2014’s overarching badness that in almost 300 days of trying, HBO made not one, more-enticing offering to its subscribers than Chavez-Vera 2.

The incongruent wardrobe of my return to television beneath a shower of ferocious South Texas sunlight brought to mind an old Chris Rock bit about a Sir Mix-A-Lot video in which the rapper wears a mink coat at a Seattle carwash where everyone else dances in bikinis. But never mind that.

People look to experts for authority. I was authoritative.

And just about perfectly wrong from beginning to end.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Former Middlewheight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has signed with powerful adviser Al Haymon.

Asked whether he would be willing to work with Haymon, who does not speak to the media, on the final fight of the contract, Chavez promoter Bob Arum said, “I’ll deal with anyone for one fight.”

According to Dan RaFael of espn.com, IBF Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch may defend his title against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on January 24 in Las Vegas.

“Talks have re-opened with Top Rank regarding a proposed Froch versus Chavez fight with a date of Jan. 24th penciled,” Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, Froch’s promoter, told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “Obviously, we have the potential to make another big domestic fight against [mandatory challenger] James DeGale and even a third fight with Mikkel Kessler, but either way we have given ourselves a deadline of 10 days to two weeks to map out Carl’s future.”

“We’re well on our way to making that fight for Jan. 24,” said Chavez promoter Bob Arum.

“I’m convinced we can get it done,” Arum said. “I made a proposal that I don’t want to get into, but I think it would be acceptable.”

“Business is business. They know this would be a big event there, and what happened with Pacquiao is not an issue that would affect Chavez and Froch,” Arum said, adding that his stepson, Todd duBoef, Top Rank’s president, had smoothed things over with Bill Hornbuckle, the president and chief marketing officer of MGM Resorts.

May 23, 2014 – Leading up to the most anticipated fight of 2014 between Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez – set for Saturday, June 7 and presented live by HBO Pay-Per-View® – HBO Sports will present the exclusive replay of two riveting showdowns that highlight the remarkable skill and will of these competitors.

On Friday, May 30 at 11:15 p.m. (ET/PT) and Saturday, May 31 at 10:00 a.m. (ET/PT), HBO2 will replay Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez & Cotto vs. Margarito 2 back-to-back. In a thrilling high-stakes battle in Las Vegas, Sergio Martinez scored a unanimous decision victory over the undefeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., dominating him for 11 of the 12 rounds, stamping his mark as one of sport’s elite champions. Meanwhile, in a much anticipated rematch that took place at Madison Square Garden, Miguel Cotto dismantled Antonio Margarito, avenging an earlier loss with a 9th round TKO.

Both fights will also be available to HBO On Demand® subscribers and can be seen 24 hours a day beginning Monday, May 26.

The Cotto vs. Martinez world middleweight title fight takes place Saturday, June 7 from New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/ 6:00 p.m. PT.

By Norm Frauenheim–

There are losers aplenty in the wake of the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Gennady Golovkin possibility headed to never-never land, right there alongside the Manny Paquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fantasy. There are the fans, of course. But there’s nothing new about that. Their hopes are always first to take a beating.

They’ll be back.

But you have to wonder whether Chavez Jr. ever will.

An intriguing Chavez-Golovkin fight, which had been scheduled for July 19 at the old Forum in Inglewood, Calif., is off the board because of failed negotiations between Chavez and Top Rank.

Depending on the source, Chavez Jr. said no to a contract extension that Top Rank said it wanted as insurance if the fight failed to make money. According to Yahoo, Chavez manager Billy Keane said Top Rank’s offer for just the Golovkin fight was for 70 percent less than what it offered for a two-fight extension. According to Ringtv.com, Top Rank’s Bob Arum said Chavez Jr. could have made $12 million for two fights in the event of a loss to Golovkin and $17 million if he beat him.

Follow the money, and Chavez Jr doesn’t look good from either side of the table. Fair or not, public perception figures to interpret the failed negotiations as a way for Chavez Jr. to sidestep a fight he couldn’t win against the most feared fighter in the game. Chavez Jr. needed an escape clause and Top Rank gave him one with that two-fight option.

It’s a move that is bound to make Chavez Jr. look bad in the eyes of Mexican fans. Canelo Alvarez readily stepped up and asked for a fight against Erislandy Lara on July 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. More hype is attached to Golovkin than Lara, but Lara is every bit as dangerous as the middleweight from Kazakhstan. Canelo never looked for a way out against the slickly-skilled Cuban, who presents some of the same challenges that Mayweather did in his one-sided victory over the red-headed Mexican last September.

But the perception will be that Chavez looked for an escape and found one. After all, he always has. At almost every turn, there has been an excuse – a way out. Chavez was allowed to train whenever and wherever he wanted before his loss to Sergio Martinez, which was followed by a positive test for marijuana. He said he couldn’t make weight for Bryan Vera. Then, he was allowed to weigh whatever he wanted before winning a controversial decision over Vera in Carson, Calif. At the end of the buffet table, there was no end to the enablers, including Top Rank.

But even Top Rank appears to have lost its patience with the 28-year-old Chavez. The two-fight option includes an unspoken option to walk away. The guess is that Top Rank won’t shed any tears if he does. Arum went public with his exasperation before Chavez Jr. won a rematch over Vera in San Antonio. By then, it was becoming loud and clear that there was a growing disconnect between Julio Jr. and Mexican fans. Only the name connects the son to his legendary dad. There were boos in Carson, Calif., for the first Vera fight. There was a smaller crowd than expected, about 7,300, at San Antonio’s Alamodome for the rematch.

Even the best trainers of the day opted not to work with him. Freddie Roach left him after the loss to Martinez. Robert Garcia chose not to work with him before the Vera rematch. A year from now, Chavez Jr. might regret turning down Top Rank’s option. It’s beginning to look as if he doesn’t have many left.

SAN ANTONIO – In this city’s Alamodome on Saturday, before Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. could whup Austin’s Bryan Vera and position himself for a match with undefeated Kazakhstani Gennady Golovkin, Mexican Orlando Salido took undefeated Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko to school and found him wanting, decisioning him by split scores of 113-115, 116-112, 115-113. Salido also forced upwards a number of tardily raised eyebrows about the propriety of his vacated title even being available to such an untested challenger.

What was lost on most, prefight, and understandably so, was the injury to Orlando Salido’s pride the Lomachenko match inflicted. There were other matters that needed consideration, of course: Vasyl Lomachenko was in pursuit of an ambiguous sort of history, one that came with editorial disclaimers galore of the sort that sparks proportionate debate among insiders as yawns among fans; the ongoing invasion of boxers from the former Soviet Union was set to continue; and Orlando Salido didn’t care enough to defend the WBO title, one he won from Orlando Cruz in 2013 after losing it to Mikey Garcia in 2013 after winning it from Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez in 2011, to come within 2 1/2 pounds of the featherweight limit.

For the second time in about as many months, one is put to remembering Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera’s 2001 victory over Englishman Naseem Hamed, or at least the disproportionate attention the business of boxing paid the sparkly object that was “Prince Naseem” at the expense of a former world champion and possessor of 52 professional victories. Lomachenko was polished to be another of our sport’s sparkly objects, a man of incomparable sparring prowess, one who emerged from behind an Iron Curtain that exists, anymore, solely in the collective imagination of what ageing generations still buck giddily round allusions to the Cold War.

Salido had earned his featherweight title, though, and if he was unable to retain it at Friday’s weighin that did not change what natural resentment he harbored for a rival and boxing infrastructure that allowed a man in only his second fight since turning “pro” the sort of title-challenging opportunity Salido was not afforded till his 34th prizefight. In some sense, it is not unlike what distrust and faint derision an autodidact feels for a degreed colleague, whichever their field. One man toiled in obscurity, often doing a number of coincidental other jobs in the hopes of someday having but one, learning his craft quietly and passionately, delaying indefinitely a wholly unguaranteed reward, while the other enjoyed an academy’s protection and comfort, longer in others’ expectations, yes, but much much shorter in risks.

If Salido and an army of other veteran fighters did not give voice to what resentment they surely felt for Lomachenko – going from headgear, spongy gloves and a cutiepie points system straight to a title challenge, via a 12-minute way station named Jose Ramirez in October, and getting a chance to wear a world championship belt without first navigating others’ elbows and heads and shoulders and skinned gloves and irregular calendars and hometown favoritisms – they surely felt the resentment in their collective marrow and cheered unsilently at home for Salido. Or as the Mexican journalist to my left said about the entire idea of the fight, after round 4, when it appeared Salido had a very real chance of beating Lomachenko: “¡Que insulto!”

That sense of insult was expressed best and most graciously by the aforementioned Juanma Lopez, a man twice vanquished by Salido, who nevertheless called Salido in his Alamodome dressing room before Saturday’s match.

“I’m with you 200-percent,” Juanma told his surprised former rival. “Go win the fight!”

And it was a fight for Salido, from the opening bell, in the sort of personal sense December’s match with American Adrien Broner was a fight for Argentine Marcos Maidana. Salido fouled Lomachenko continuously. He used a rangefinder hook to Lomachenko’s protective cup in the first round, and when that went undetected by referee Laurence Cole, he drove the knuckles of his right fist, bolo-style, at the front of Lomachenko’s left hipbone whenever Cole meandered over to break them. Salido’s awareness of Cole’s positioning was fantastic and very much better than Cole’s awareness of Salido’s positioning, which is a special sort of indictment when one considers Salido was extrapolating Cole’s position while calculating, at once, the acceleration and trajectory of another man’s onrushing fists.

Lomachenko had little idea what to do with Salido for much of the fight. The Ukrainian’s defense of Salido’s body blows, and later Salido’s mere feints, was a jackknifing sort of motion that involved throwing his abdomen backwards to where his spine had been and causing a forward-folding that anticipated no chance of retaliation. Salido might not have seen such amateurishness since he was a teenager in Sonora, if ever, but 54 previous fights told him one thing: This man is not in a position from which he can strike me. The American journalist to my right, happily enough my favorite Monday columnist, recognized early the surprising fact Lomachenko did not know how to use an uppercut to discourage Salido’s attack on his abdomen (and hips, and cup, and thighs, and right knee).

Lomachenko deserves plaudits, nevertheless, for comporting himself like a fighter, realizing in round 1 he was in a state where fights are often barely sanctioned things and reserving his complaints only for Salido’s most egregious infractions. After the fight, one that ended with Lomachenko very nearly stopping Salido, who made a four-limbed poncho of himself when hurt in the final 90 seconds, reveling in what lawlessness governed the small blue patch of Texas territory policed by Sheriff Cole, Lomachenko shrugged away questions of Salido’s tactics with an appeal to the profession both chose.

Sometime before Lomachenko’s 0 had to go, Saturday’s press section rippled with news that, mourning the recent death of his father, undefeated Kazakhstani middleweight titlist Gennady “GGG” Golovkin would be unable to make his unofficially scheduled next match, affording Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., in town primarily for Friday’s weighin, one chance at least to proctor for Golovkin the sort of stern test Salido gave Lomachenko. GGG’s legion of enthusiasts should welcome it.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. registered his 2nd victory over Bryan Vera in 7 months by scoring am entertaining 12 round unanimous decision in a Super Middleweight bout at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Chavez was much better then the lethargic version of himself in September as he started quickly being much more active. He was dominant with body punches and hard right hands to the head. Vera showed an incredible heart and chin as not only did he withstand the Chavez assault but he came back with flurries of his own. It was a fast paced and exciting fight that saw a lot of contact. Vera was docked a point in round eight after being warned by referee Rafael Ramos for different fouls. The point was a dubious deduction as it looked like Vera did not do anything to warrant the point loss but Chavez complained several times and the referee “bought” those complaints. Chavez outlanded Vera in every round and then coasted in the 12th as he refused to engage and stay out of harms way and won by scores of 117-110 twice and 114-113.

Chaveez Jr., 167 1/2 lbs of Culican, MX is now 48-1-1-1. Vera, 167 1/2 lbs of Austin, TX is now 23-8.

Orlando Salido bucked history and scored a 12 round split decision over amateur star Vasyl Lomachenko in a Featherweight bout.

Lomachenko was trying to make history by winning a world title in just his 2nd pro bout. Salido, who was the reigning champion missed weight at Friday’s weigh-in making and then putting on another 19 pounds overnight Lomachenko the only fighter eligible to win the title.

Salido used both his size and experience advantages to the fullest in the fight as he bullied Lomachenko with body shots, which more than a handful strayed extremely low but was not called by referee Laurence Cole. Salido surged ahead in the middle rounds by his activity level and effective body work where Lomechenko was resigned to one shot and holding. Lomachenko made it interesting in the final frame when he hurt Salido with hard left and then a body punch of his own. Salido was able to hold on and by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 while Lomachenko won a card at 115-113.

Salido, 128 1/4 lbs of Ciudad, MX is now 41-12-2-1. Lomachenko, 125 1/4 lbs of Ukraine is now 1-1.

Julio Cesar Chavez 167.5 – Bryan Vera 167.5
Orlando Salido 128.25 – Vasyl Lomachenko 125.5
Juan Diaz 134.5 – Gerardo Robles 134.5
Oscar Valdez 127.5 – Samuel Sanchez 127.75
Ivan Najera 136.5 – Angel Hernandez 133.25
Alex Saucedo 146.5 – Gilberto Venegas 1498.5

SAN ANTONIO – What may well prove to be the most suspenseful moment of Saturday’s Chavez Jr.-Vera II card happened a day early when, framed by a clever prop, Mexico’s former middleweight titlist “Son of the Legend” Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. made the super middleweight limit by a half pound. In so doing, Chavez demonstrated an often-absent professionalism, and returned the need to prove one’s professional merits to Austinite Bryan Vera’s corner.

Saturday’s fight, a rematch of Chavez’s controversial decision win in September, may well turn out to be a savage thrashing of a Texan in Texas. Unless Vera’s approach to defending has improved more than Chavez’s approach to weightloss, in the last five months, Vera is likely to need his corner’s help both early and late.

Early Friday afternoon at a makeshift stage outside the host venue Alamodome’s south entrance, an apparently motivated Chavez (47-1-1, 32 KOs) made weight easily, weighing 167 1/2 pounds and confirming, officially, an easy-make of the weight he foreshadowed hours earlier in a photo on his own Instagram page. Austin’s Bryan Vera (23-7, 14 KOs), who made an identical 167 1/2 and enjoyed a considerably larger organic following than Chavez – as opposed to a less-authentic contingent of Chavez fans waving overhead wooden noisemakers and cheering at a volume that belied their collective scarcity – looked on amusedly at a large placard the Chavez camp unveiled as Chavez took the scale.

“Voided” read the red stamp across the fake check that represented what $250,000 fine Chavez was contractually obligated to pay Vera in the event of Chavez’s missing weight, a thing he managed to do a few times before their first fight. “168 LBS. MAX” read the Memo portion in the bottom left corner of the fake check, and Chavez alternately smiled and grimaced ferociously as he enjoyed more of the good-natured banter that has marked the promotion of this rematch. If “Son of the Legend” and Vera share any feelings of mutual animosity, none was displayed Friday.

Less enthusiastic about his visit to the scale was co-main-event Mexican Orlando “Siri” Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs), the WBO featherweight titlist whose main role Saturday was to provide undefeated Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO) a world title in only his career’s second match. Salido will not be able to serve that role, exactly, as after marking 128 1/4 pounds, more than two pounds over the featherweight limit, and looking dry and gray as a result of his having tried, Salido did not make any effort to lose any further weight, losing his title officially about 30 hours before he could have it beaten out of him by Lomachenko.

Other notables making weight Friday were Houston’s former lightweight world champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (38-4, 19 KOs), who will fight Mexican Gerardo Robles (18-12, 9 KOs), and Oklahoma’s Alex “El Cholo” Saucedo (12-0, 9 KOs), who will in all probability decimate Illinois welterweight Gilberto Venegas (12-12, 4 KOs).

Finally, though, Saturday’s most probable decimation will come in its main event. While Chavez and Vera looked nearly comparable in size Friday afternoon, Chavez’s long frame is expected to add 15 or so pounds to it before opening bell rings on his rematch with Vera. Boxing is ever an unpredictable entity, but one hopes if Chavez is able to body Vera with his left shoulder early, cornering the Austinite and lashing him with overhand rights, Vera’s corner will not be stubborn or proud as its charge – and will stop the fight too early, rather than too late.

First bell is scheduled to ring at Alamodome at 5:00 PM CT. 15rounds.com will have full undercard coverage from ringside.

Embed:

LONDON (Feb. 27) – Mexican star Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is hoping to give fights fans something to remember as he takes on Texan Bryan Vera in a bout he hopes will go down as ‘Fight of the Year’.

The former WBC middleweight world champion faces Vera in a rematch at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas this weekend following a meeting last September in which Chavez Jr won a highly contentious points decision over 10 rounds.

Many observers that night felt the underdog Vera had won the fight, or at the very least had done more than the judges’ scorecards suggested, as he put on a gallant display in front of a pro-Chavez Jr crowd.

The bout last year was riddled with controversy even before both men entered the ring with the son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez unable to make the initially agreed super-middleweight limit of 168 pounds, instead renegotiating a new limit of 173 pounds.

Now, though, Chavez Jr insists he has had a great camp, welcoming his first born along the way, and is ready to put on a special performance for the fans.

“Vera has not seen the best Julio,” said Chavez Jr. “I had my best training camp since I fought Andy Lee. I am ready to fight. Having my little daughter Julia with me gives me extra motivation. Vera earned his second opportunity because of the way he fought in our first fight. He is a true warrior,” he said.

“I have had much success in Texas, especially in San Antonio and am looking to give the fans something they can remember – hopefully the ‘Fight of the Year’,” he declared.

The 28-year-old has refused to underestimate Vera this time around and is confident his improved conditioning for this fight will make him a much more dangerous foe.

“I have been training for four months for this fight because I need to be at my best to win this fight and win it in an impressive fashion. I must eliminate all doubts about the outcome. I know that I will be much better than the first fight,” he said.

“I believe that Bryan Vera will come very confident after what happened in our first fight which will make this fight much better than the first one and one that the fans will remember for a long time. I owe the fans a great performance and that is what they will get,” Chavez Jr said.

“I will make the 168 pound limit with no problem and I will be able to do the things I couldn’t do in the first fight. I will have better movement, I will be more consistent and I will fight 12 hard rounds if that is what it takes to win this second fight,” he added.

Vera came to prominence with his victory over the then undefeated Andy Lee back in 2008, before the Irishman avenged the loss three years later.

The Mexican-American was seen as a stepping stone for Chavez Jr, who was looking to go after another world title, before he ran into the unrelenting 32-year-old, who is convinced he will dish out more of the same in the early hours this Sunday.

“I did all of my training times two. This has been the longest camp of my career. I sparred against heavyweights to get ready for Chavez Jr,” Vera said.

“I’m going to beat him for the second time. Everyone knows I won the first fight. This is a serious fight with only one ending – I will get my hand raised,” he said.

Also on the card that night will be an exciting matchup featuring the two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko who will go after his first world title in only his second professional bout.

The silky southpaw who dazzled on his debut against Jose Ramirez last October challenges the tough WBO featherweight world champion Orlando Salido in a highly unusual and intriguing clash.

“I am not nervous at all,” said Lomachenko. “I am the one who chose this path to a world title fight. All of this was my decision. Salido has fought the best of the best. He will be a hard fighter to defeat. I like fighters like him with the tough Mexican style. It makes it so much more challenging.

“Salido is a great champion because he is calm, never talks trash, is cold-blooded and has beaten the best. This is a real fight, a battle,” he stated.

Earlier this Saturday from 8pm, BoxNation will also show the WBO super-middleweight matchup between Robert Stieglitz and Arthur Abraham as they battle it out live from Germany.

Plus, on March 8th, Mexican hero Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez makes his ring return following his defeat to pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather last September. He steps in against fan favourite Alfredo Angulo in a bad blooded all-Mexican affair.

The stacked undercard sees potential Carl Frampton rival Leo Santa Cruz in action when he defends his WBC super-bantamweight crown against Cristian Mijares.

The following week on March 15th, the top dog at 140 pounds – Danny Garcia – puts his WBC and WBA world titles on the line against Mauricio Herrera, live from Puerto Rico. With heavyweight hitman Deontay Wilder looking to blast past yet another opponent when he faces Malik Scott in his toughest fight to date.

Chavez Jr vs. Vera is live on BoxNation (Sky Ch.437/HD 449 & Virgin Ch.546) this Sunday from 2am. Visit www.boxnation.com to subscribe.

-Ends-

About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated subscription boxing channel. For £10* a month and no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

BoxNation is proud to support Fight for Peace, a charity that uses boxing and martial arts combined with education and personal development to realise the potential of young people in communities that suffer from crime and violence. Buy LUTA (www.luta.co.uk) clothing and support Fight for Peace.

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Khan vs Diaz and Mayweather vs Alvarez.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Virgin (Ch.546), online at Livesport.tv and via iPhone, iPad or Android. BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 449), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.

For more information visit www.boxnation.com

*Plus £10 one off registration fee for Sky TV and new Livesport.tv customers.

SAN ANTONIO, TX (February 26, 2014) — Fight Week in San Antonio for the eagerly- anticipated boxing doubleheader featuring the historic challenge by two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and 2013 Prospect of the Year, VASYL LOMACHENKO, in only his second professional fight, of World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion ORLANDO SALIDO continued its hot path in earnest today as both participated in Media Workouts. In front of a packed Zarzamora Street Boxing Gym, the fighters trained for over three hours as they fine-tuned for their upcoming encore battle. The world championship event will be headlined by the rematch between former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion and Son of the Legend JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR. and Top-Five contender and two-fisted Texan BRYAN VERA.

Both fights will take place This Saturday! March 1, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

SALIDO
“I have being an underdog all my professional career and this fight is no different. I come to fight and do the best I can and I don’t pick my opponents and never have.
I know why Lomachenko is getting this opportunity. He was one of the best amateur boxers and has two gold medals. I came up the hard way and I worked hard for everything I have.”

When asked if Lomachenko was ready for an experienced fighter like him:
“I guess we will find out on Saturday night. He does have skills. He has fast hands, moves well in the ring, but we will see in the ring if he can take my pressure and constant work rate that I will dish out to him.”

LOMACHEKNO
“I am not nervous at all. I am the one who chose this path to a world title fight.
All of this was my decision. Salido has fought the best of the best. He will be a hard fighter to defeat. I like fighters like him with the tough Mexican style. It makes it so much more challenging. Salido is a great champion because he is calm, never talks trash, is cold-blooded and has beaten the best. This is a real fight, a battle.”

**********************************

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Banner Promotions, Foreman Boys Promotions and Tecate, remaining tickets to Chávez vs. Vera II, priced at $200, $100, $60, $40 and $25 (plus applicable taxes and fees), can be purchased at the Alamodome box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com and via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800) 745-3000.

HBO Presents “Road to Chavez Jr./Vera II”. HBO playdates include: February 27 at 4:30 p.m. ET/PT, February 28 at 1:00 a.m. ET/PT and March 1 at 12:15 p.m. ET/PT.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.banner-promotions.com or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/banner-promotions or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, twitter.com/bannerboxing or twitter.com/hboboxing.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

SAN ANTONIO – Mexican “Son of the Legend” Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. returns to this city sometime in the next few days, returns to a local scale sometime Friday afternoon, and returns to an Alamodome ring Saturday night against Austin’s Bryan Vera. The middle spectacle, Friday’s, should prove the week’s most suspenseful, and if Chavez somehow misses weight also its most tragic. If Chavez makes weight, evincing proper preparation for his rematch with the profoundly limited Vera, though, let us hope Saturday’s match does not end tragically.

But for that possibility, this is all a bit tired, isn’t it? The “Road to Chavez Jr. vs. Vera II” promotional piece felt obligatory as a husband’s trip to the mall. Gone are the mildly alluring touches of collaring whichever journalists were in town for whichever other event, to give aficionados a chance at least to see admired writers mention, in very short clips, why they think this fight may be compelling (with the flashed and handsome exception of our site’s intrepid editor at 1:21). Instead we get HBO’s commentary team rehashing what they said the night of the first fight with what they’ve digested since, in promotional spots that boast all the journalistic panache of actors from this season’s cast of “Dexter” holding their fists aloft while advising viewers they’ve been buzzed – and if that is a mashup, as the kids are calling it, of two different networks’ original programming concepts, it’s honestly arrived at because no enterprising mind should keep 2014’s thus-far-banal prizefighting offerings compartmentalized.

That promises to change, at least in spirit, Saturday, when this city opens its gracious arms to a rematch of a not particularly compelling 2013 match, one that finds Chavez once more collecting his father’s back wages from his promoter or his network or his Mexican fans, a collective that must be dwindling.

Into the curiousness of this arrangement meanders Junior, never hurried, marking promoter Top Rank’s return to a city whose venues it has not graced in the 23 months since Kelly Pavlik used the force to smash apart Aaron “Jedi” Jaco in the debut of Leija-Battah Promotions, an outfit that looked a temporary license-holding company for Las Vegas- and Los Angeles-based promoters, alike, before evolving, quickly and audaciously, into something more and better. What consequently drove the local promoter from Top Rank after one show is anyone’s guess, but it was a thing that did carry consequences, as Top Rank has since made medium-sized Texas shows in Houston, Dallas, Corpus Christi and Laredo but not Alamo City, a place where Son of the Legend began to become more than a mascot by decisioning John Duddy in 2010 at Alamodome, the venue where his father, The Legend, set an attendance record still standing.

There’s no telling how ticket sales might be going for Saturday’s show for a couple reasons: First, there isn’t an engaged local promoter endeavoring to recoup its large investment by blitzing inboxes with promotional tidbits, and second, with most of the money for this fight coming exclusively from HBO, there’s not nearly the same urgency there was round this time last year when, openly snubbing his proximate rival, Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez declined to fight on Floyd Mayweather’s May undercard – firing the starter’s pistol on a frantic effort to find a venue, and accompanying local entrepreneur, to host Alvarez on short notice. What resulted, an April match between Alvarez and New Mexican Austin Trout, brought nearly 40,000 fans to Alamodome, an attendance figure that established in a bold stroke Alvarez’s coveted standing as Mexico’s most popular prizefighter. Alvarez then sprinkled cinnamon in his promoter’s gears in September, winning perhaps 90 seconds of his 36-minute match with Mayweather.

Displaying his father’s relentlessness and talent for smashing microscopic fissures into gaping wounds, then, Chavez Jr. snatched the corona right off Alvarez’s bowed redhead by icing his countrymen’s bruised national pride, 14 days later, with a victory over Bryan Vera that is remembered, still, for its preparation, savagery and workrate.

Oh, if ever a sentence were typed round derisive giggles.

Instead of doing something memorably good or even forgettably bad, Son of the Legend chose that inauspicious time to hold a pound-auction at the Friday weighin, having done the considerate thing, he explained for HBO’s “Road to” cameras, and informed the Vera camp ahead of time he would weigh, well, something higher than what 168 pounds he was legally obliged to make. Then Son of the Legend made a lionlike contender of Bryan Vera, a good guy of good work ethic and giver of a goodish impersonation of Colorado’s Mike Alvarado, were Alvarado not a once-great high school athlete.

Wait, Vera a “contender”? Yes, contender: As Son of the Legend reminded viewers, apropos of his figurative hunger – unmistakable in its modesty for Junior’s literal hunger – he was a “world champion” once, wearing proudly the garish, gold-and-whipped-pea strap the WBC stole from lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in 2011, making Chavez technically a champion and making Vera technically a contender – cute a reminder as any that Vera outworked television’s original “Contender,” Sergio Mora, in August 2012 at the converted Alamodome venue called Illusions Theater, in a Leija-Battah-promoted rematch of Vera’s finest hour, a controversial 2011 decisioning of Mora in Fort Worth, an hour not nearly fine as Vera’s decisioning of Chavez Jr. in a September match official judges, alone, scored widely for Son of the Legend.

We circle back to Saturday, then, meandering round the subject like a pothead in peach underwear doing living-room laps for roadwork – so great is his hunger as world champion – to address briefly a match that should not be competitive, and, one prays, will not end tragically for Vera. Whatever long list of bad habits Vera’s trainer Ronnie Shields credits himself with red-penning from the Austinite’s dossier, he sure as hell did nothing for Vera’s plunging right hand, a hand Vera holsters at his waist before throwing either glove at opponents. That flaw portends nothing good for Vera.

I’ll take Chavez, then, KO-11, in a terribly lopsided spectacle even Junior’s legion of detractors will wish had been stopped after nine.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

The first two Saturdays in March are a window that will provide a look at whether two heavily-hyped fighters, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Canelo Alvarez, have retained their popularity among their loyal fan base.

Chavez comes off controversy on March 1 in a rematch of his hotly-debated decision over Bryan Vera. Then, Canelo tests his Q rating on March 8 against Alfredo Angulo in his first bout since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a decision seen as one-sided by everybody but a judge, C.J. Ross, who scored it a draw.

Chavez and Canelo may never share the same ring because of all the usual divisiveness in boxing’s balkanized business. Still, they are linked, almost like a couple of rival politicians, in an ever-shifting race for allegiance among Mexican and Mexican-American fans. If presented a ballot these days, some of those fans might be tempted to vote none-of-the-above. Neither distinguished himself in his last outing.

Of the two, however, Chavez suffered more damage to his reputation and legendary name than Canelo sustained in a predictable loss. The difference: Chavez did it to himself. Canelo had it done to him.

Chavez appears to be closer than ever to losing a nation of fans who revere his dad, yet have grown ever more exasperated with the son’s apparent sense of entitlement and lack of maturity. Chavez continued to make a mockery of making weight and training before he got a gift on the scorecards against Vera in September. They booed him.

“I owe the fans,’’ says Chavez, a brand new father.

Is Chavez just talking or serious about sustaining a commitment to his craft this time around? It’s fair to wonder about that. Ratings for his HBO rematch at San Antonio’s Alamodome with Vera will say a lot about whether fans have given up on him.

That said, fans also might decide to wait-and-see. It will take more than one good fight from Chavez to win them back. If he is in shape, he figures to beat Vera easily. But the real proof would be in what he does over the next couple of fights. After a victory, he too often gets comfortable, falls off the wagon and into a lifestyle with no discipline. Roadwork consists of midnight laps around the couch and to the fridge.

For Canelo, there’s a different kind of skepticism. His pound-for-pound credentials took a big hit when he was so out-classed by Mayweather in September. Not to worry, Canelo promised in a conference call.

“I learned a lot from that fight,’’ he said. “I learned a lot from the Mayweather fight. He’s got a style that’s very complicated. He’s got a style that’s very intelligent and he fights intelligently. I think that his whole purpose is just to win. But I learned a lot. I learned a lot about the fight itself inside the ring and outside the ring as well.’’

In Angulo, Canelo took a fight he figures to win. Still, it’s dangerous. Angulo is tough and heavy-handed. He knocked down accomplished Erislandy Lara twice in June, before losing 10th-round stoppage. He also might have learned some valuable new tricks in sparring with Andre Ward. Virgil Hunter trains both Angulo and Ward.

Let’s put it this way: Angulo has better shot at scoring an upset than Vera does.

Yet, Golden Boy Promotions is betting that Canelo will emerge with his career and popularity intact. Canelo’s Showtime-televised comeback against Angulo at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand is a pay-per-view bout.

“I have loyal fans and I’m very grateful for that,’’ Canelo said. “They’re always going to be with me. I feel that they’re going to support me through thick and thin. They’re going to follow me in this Pay-Per-View.’’

If they don’t, only Canelo will pay.

CULIACÁN, MÉXICO (February 19, 2014) – Former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR is in his final days of training camp in México as he prepares for his 12-round super middleweight rematch against Top-Five contender and two-fisted Texan BRYAN VERA. Chávez Jr. – Vera II will take place next week – Saturday, March 1 – at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast will open with two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and 2013 Prospect of the Year, VASYL LOMACHENKO, in only his second professional bout, challenging World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion ORLANDO SALIDO.

Here is what Chávez Jr. had to say today:

“I have been training for four months for this fight because I need to be at my best to win this fight and win it in an impressive fashion. I must eliminate all doubts about the outcome.

“I know that I will be much better than the first fight. I believe that Bryan Vera will come very confident after what happened in our first fight which will make this fight much better than the first one and one that the fans will remember for a long time.

“I owe the fans a great performance and that is what they will get on March 1 at th Alamodome and on HBO. I have had a lot of success in San Antonio and I look forward to going there and putting on a good show for them.

“I will make the 168 pound limit with no problem and I will be able to do the things I could not do in first fight. I will have better movement, I will be more consistent and I will fight 12 hard rounds if that is what it takes to win this second fight. Vera is a tough guy with a good chin, but I will do my best to send him home early.

“I know that we are fighting in his home state but inside the ring is just the two of us and the fans can stay in the stands and enjoy a great battle between two guys that will not give an inch in the ring.

“I am looking forward to a great night of boxing and to getting back on the road to another world championship run.”

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Banner Promotions, Foreman Boys Promotions and Tecate, remaining tickets to Chávez vs. Vera II, priced at $200, $100, $60, $40 and $25 (plus applicable taxes and fees), can be purchased at the Alamodome box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com and via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800) 745-3000.

The first Chávez Jr.-Vera fight took place on September 28, 2013, at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. It was action-packed from the opening bell, with Vera giving a career-best performance. The Texan outlanded Chávez Jr. in overall punches while the former world champion connected with the heavier artillery. The judges scored it unanimously for Chávez Jr., a decision that was met with disbelief by fans and media. And thus a rematch was born.

HBO Presents “Road to Chavez Jr./Vera II”. HBO playdates include: February 27 at 4:30 p.m. ET/PT, February 28 at 1:00 a.m. ET/PT and March 1 at 12:15 p.m. ET/PT.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.banner-promotions.com or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/banner-promotions or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, twitter.com/bannerboxing or twitter.com/hboboxing.

SAN ANTONIO (February 12, 2014) — Two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and 2013 Prospect of the Year VASYL LOMACHENKO (1-0, 1 KO), is in a hurry to make his mark, and in only his second professional fight, he will be challenging three-time world featherweight champion ORLANDO “Siri” SALIDO for Salido’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight title. The Salido-Lomachenko world championship fight will be televised live from the Alamodome, Saturday, March 1, on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast will also feature the eagerly-anticipated 12-round rematch between former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion and Son of the Legend JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR. and Top-Five contender and two-fisted Texan BRYAN VERA.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Banner Promotions, Foreman Boys Promotions and Tecate, remaining tickets to Chávez vs. Vera II / Salido vs. Lomachenko are priced at $200, $100, $60, $40 and $25 (plus applicable taxes and fees). They can be purchased at the Alamodome box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com and via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800) 745-3000.

“It has been a long, hard ride to get to this world title fight,” said Lomachenko. “I may have only one professional fight on my resume but I have been boxing all my life, dreaming that one day I would be fighting the best fighters. And now I am fighting a world champion who is one of the best in featherweight division. Salido is a very good veteran fighter and he has been in the ring with toughest opponents. He puts a lot of pressure on you inside the ring and he comes to fight. Defeating this kind of fighter would mean a lot to me. It would also add my name to boxing history and get me one step closer to joining the sport’s all-time best. Thank you to Top Rank and a special thank you to Bob Arum for making this fight happen — for making my dream come true. Tune into HBO World Championship Boxing on March 1st. You will remember the Alamodome that night.”

Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs), of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, México, completed a hat trick last year by winning a world featherweight title for the third time. He captured the vacant WBO featherweight title by knocking out No. 1 contender Orlando Cruz in the seventh round of their September 12, 2013 fight. Salido captured his first world title in his third attempt. After a No Decision to Robert Guerrero in 2006 and a split decision loss to Cristobal Cruz in 2008, Salido finally captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight title in 2010, avenging his loss to Cruz by winning a split decision. His title reign was short-lived, losing a unification fight to World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa later that same year. Salido bounced back in a big way, stopping undefeated WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez in the eighth round in 2011 to capture his second world championship crown. Salido successfully defended that title twice, knocking out Kenichi Yamaguchi and Lopez in a rematch during his two-year reign, before losing it to Mikey Garcia last January. He enters this title defense having won six of his last seven fights by knockout.

Two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko jumped into the deep end of boxing’s international-sized swimming pool when he made his professional debut in a 10-round featherweight bout against the WBO’s No. 7-rated featherweight contender Jose Luis Ramirez last September 12. It didn’t take Lomachenko long to take to the water. He knocked out Ramirez (24-2-2, 15 KOs) in the fourth round to become the new WBO International featherweight champion. He ended the year as the WBO’s No. 5 world-rated featherweight contender as well as being proclaimed the 2013 “Prospect of the Year” by the majority of the major boxing media. Lomachenko first gained international renown by winning gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games as a featherweight and a lightweight, respectively. Known for his all-out aggressive style of boxing, Lomachenko is equally aggressive in plotting his professional boxing plan to a world title where he insisted on making his pro debut in a 10-round bout against a seasoned Top-10 rated contender where a victory could propel him to a world title shot in his next fight.

HBO Sports presents “The Road to Chavez Jr./Vera II,” premiering Monday, February 17, at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.banner-promotions.com or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/banner-promotions or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, twitter.com/bannerboxing or twitter.com/hboboxing.

SAN ANTONIO (February 12, 2014) — For three-time world featherweight champion ORLANDO “Siri” SALIDO boxing has been about perseverance and overcoming the odds, and in 17 days his mettle will be tested once more as he puts his world title on the line against two-time Olympic gold medalist, VASYL LOMACHENKO (1-0, 1 KO), considered by many to be the best amateur boxer in the history of the sport. The Salido-Lomachenko WBO featherweight championship fight will be televised live from the Alamodome on Saturday, March 1, on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast will also feature the eagerly-anticipated 12-round rematch between former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion and Son of the Legend JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR. and Top-Five contender and two-fisted Texan BRYAN VERA.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Banner Promotions, Foreman Boys Promotions and Tecate, remaining tickets to Chávez vs. Vera II / Salido vs. Lomachenko are priced at $200, $100, $60, $40 and $25 (plus applicable taxes and fees). They can be purchased at the Alamodome box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com and via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800) 745-3000.

“I know people expect Lomachenko to beat me and take my title away, and while I respect all he did as an amateur, professional boxing is not the same. He has had just one professional fight. My experience, strength and hunger will be the difference”, said Salido during his media workout on Tuesday in his hometown of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. He has been training for the fight in Phoenix and Ciudad Obregon under his trainer, Santos Moreno.

“Lomachenko has quick hands and is very fast, but he still has an amateur style that can be exploited and that is what I am going to do on March 1 in San Antonio. This fight is as big as any I had in my career and look forward to the challenge.”

Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs), of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, México, completed a hat trick last year by winning a world featherweight title for the third time. He captured the vacant WBO featherweight title by knocking out No. 1 contender Orlando Cruz in the seventh round of their September 12, 2013 fight. Salido captured his first world title in his third attempt. After a No Decision to Robert Guerrero in 2006 and a split decision loss to Cristobal Cruz in 2008, Salido finally captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight title in 2010, avenging his loss to Cruz by winning a split decision. His title reign was short-lived, losing a unification fight to World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa later that same year. Salido bounced back in a big way, stopping undefeated WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez in the eighth round in 2011 to capture his second world championship crown. Salido successfully defended that title twice, knocking out Kenichi Yamaguchi and Lopez in a rematch during his two-year reign, before losing it to Mikey Garcia last January. He enters this title defense having won six of his last seven fights by knockout.

Two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko jumped into the deep end of boxing’s international-sized swimming pool when he made his professional debut in a 10-round featherweight bout against the WBO’s No. 7-rated featherweight contender Jose Luis Ramirez last September 12. It didn’t take Lomachenko long to take to the water. He knocked out Ramirez (24-2-2, 15 KOs) in the fourth round to become the new WBO International featherweight champion. He ended the year as the WBO’s No. 5 world-rated featherweight contender as well as being proclaimed the 2013 “Prospect of the Year” by the majority of the major boxing media.. Lomachenko first gained international renown by winning gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games as a featherweight and a lightweight, respectively. Known for his all-out aggressive style of boxing, Lomachenko is equally aggressive in plotting his professional boxing plan to a world title where he insisted on making his pro debut in a 10-round bout against a seasoned Top-10 rated contender where a victory could propel him to a world title shot in his next fight.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.banner-promotions.com or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/banner-promotions or facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, twitter.com/bannerboxing or twitter.com/hboboxing.