by: José A Maldonado, MFA
The stage is set. The son of a legend and a rising star with huge expectations will finally fight on the same date. They will both push their bodies to the limit for weeks in preparation. They will both make millions of dollars. And, on September 15th, they will both enter the ring to defend their titles. Except, they will not be facing each other. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the curious and irrational world of boxing.
Rather than fight each other and provide boxing with a much-needed breath of fresh air (not to mention line their pockets with millions generated on PPV worldwide), the two will fight on competing fight cards(!), Chávez in a middleweight showdown against pound for pound lister Sergio “Maravilla” Martínez and Canelo against an undersized Josesito López (really?!) who will look to pull the upset much like he did against Victor Ortiz (which is why we’re here in the first place).
In June, during a post fight interview following his most recent victory, an impressive stoppage over the Emanuel Steward-trained Andy Lee, Julio César Chávez Jr. called out a big name, and although it was that of the uber-talented Martínez, it wasn’t exactly the name everyone wanted to hear. That’s because people had been clamoring for a Chávez – Canelo Alvarez bout for quite some time now, and some even hoped that, with all the difficulty Alvarez was having with securing an opponent for his September 15th bout, then maybe, just maybe, it could finally be made.
A bout between Julio César Chávez Jr and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez seems to be a natural. They are both mega stars in their native Mexico, attracting great interest with every fight, and they have slowly grown in popularity in the US, having captured world titles despite whispers from critics that they are more hype than talent. Both come from completely different backgrounds: Chávez having been raised in the lap of luxury provided by his father’s millions, his career practically created by his name alone, while Canelo had to work for his spot in the limelight. But what has proven to be the second coming of Pacquiao-Mayweather seems to be doomed just like its predecessor.
Why? This is the curious and irrational world of boxing, remember?
What it all comes down to is, you guessed it, rival promotional companies. Canelo is managed by Golden Boy Promotions while Chávez’ fights are handled by their arch nemesis, Top Rank, run by Bob Arum. Shortly after retiring, De La Hoya, whose career was built by Arum and Top Rank, vowed to create a promotional company that would treat fighters well (a clear poke at Top Rank and, by extension, Arum) and do business with its partners the right way. Though it all sounded very nice in the beginning, things didn’t go exactly to plan and instead what we got was two boxing behemoths standing in each other’s way. The feud is legendary and includes everything from Arum refusing to return De La Hoya’s Olympic gold medal (which the fighter gave to him as a gift before asking for its return) to Golden Boy trying to steal both Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire, as well as allegations against the Top Rank-promoted Pacquiao regarding steroid use (allegations that led Pacquiao to file a lawsuit against Golden Boy).
In 2011 the immense iceberg that stands between the rival promotional outfits began to thaw after they agreed on having their respective fighters Yuriorkis Gamboa (TR) and Daniel Ponce De Leon (GBP) face off. But the rays of sunshine beaming from Arum and De La Hoya that may have completely melted the ice vanished as quickly as they appeared, putting other great fights in danger including Donaire-Abner Mares.
The two companies already seem to have squandered a Pacquiao-Mayweather super fight (though Golden Boy does not promote Mayweather, who is more of a free agent hybrid, he often hires them on as a go-between for his fight negotiations), which would no doubt shatter all boxing records, and now they appear to be steering a possible Chávez-Canelo fight in the same direction.
Previously there had been a lot of talk about how Canelo and Chávez truly despised each other, a detail that only made a showdown between them even more delectable. Lately, though, things have changed. Canelo recently explained that he has no beef with Chávez, going so far as relating an encounter with the middleweight champ in which they shook hands and greeted each other. This, of course, may come as a shock to many, especially if we are to assume that Canelo saw this Halloween picture in which the Sinaloan wore a red wig while punching a man, poking fun at the allegations that Canelo had punched former champ Ulises “Archie” Solís while on a morning jog. Chávez, meanwhile, previously known for his verbal jabs at Canelo, calling him “protected,” has become uncharacteristically quiet in regards to the cinnamon one, choosing instead to focus his comments on Martínez.
So now, a fight that was too good to be true has become just that. There are now more reasons for them to not face each other than there are for a fight to actually be made. The argument now is that Canelo is too small for Chávez, who has been known to walk around at about 175 to Canelo’s fighting weight of 154. Some say that the two are still too undeveloped to fight each other, and that perhaps they’ve yet to earn the right for a super fight. Whatever the case may be, if the fight is never made, ironically, the men who are in charge of making the fights are to blame.
José A Maldonado is senior staff writer at punchrate.com and contributing writer for proboxinginsider.com
Follow JA Maldonado via Twitter @jam_mfa
