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SPORTS A19
Saturday 6 May 2017

Boxing on hot streak ahead of Canelo-Chavez Jr. showdown

MIKE CRANSTON Canelo Alvarez, left, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. pose for photographers during a weigh-in Friday, May 5, 2017, in Las Vegas. The two
Associated Press are scheduled to fight Saturday in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Boxing is
on a hot streak. Associated Press
Last week, 90,000 fans
packed Wembley Stadium the sport sagged and the bursting through a border Chavez faced a $1 million- fight was announced. Al-
in London for a heavy- UFC gained ground. But wall like the one proposed per-pound penalty. varez, who grew up in pov-
weight thriller. On Satur- boxing has benefited from by President Donald Trump. “I’m very happy that he erty and whose lone loss
day, Mexican rivals Saul several good fights this “This is an important fight, made weight because came to Mayweather, said
“Canelo” Alvarez and Julio year, including last week an important moment,” that means he worked Chavez has been pam-
Cesar Chavez Jr. square when Anthony Joshua said Chavez, who is guar- hard,” Alvarez said. “And pered and has “embar-
off in front of what’s ex- stopped Wladimir Klitschko anteed $3 million for the that guarantees that we rassed the sport with his
pected to be the largest in the 11th round of what bout. “It can be a big boost can give the fans a great lack of discipline.”
indoor crowd for a bout in was billed as the biggest to my career if I can win this fight.” Chavez has countered that
Las Vegas. heavyweight fight in British fight.” Alvarez, who has never Alvarez has been scared to
The sport appears to be on history. Chavez, the son of the fought above 155 pounds, fight bigger boxers. Alvarez
the upswing two years af- Saturday’s bout is being Mexican boxing icon Julio also weighed 164. He’s had to surrender his WBC
ter the Floyd Mayweather considered one of the big- Cesar Chavez Sr., is trying to guaranteed $5 million. middleweight belt when he
Jr.-Manny Pacquiao block- gest involving Mexican revitalize a career derailed “He’s a good fighter, but declined to agree to a fight
buster fight ended with fighters, and it comes on by failed drug tests, weight I’ve been taking care of with Gennady Golovkin.
boos and jeers and has the Cinco de Mayo holiday issues and poor training. He my conditioning and train- That fight could finally hap-
been blamed on ensuing weekend and amid politi- cleared his first hurdle at Fri- ing,” Chavez said. “I think pen in September, if the
disappointing pay-per- cal tensions. A commercial day’s festive weigh-in when I bring more to the table 26-year-old Alvarez can
view numbers. promoting the fight depicts he came in at 164 pounds, than he does.” solve the unpredictable
“That mega fight really hurt Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) and under the 164 1/2-pound There have been plenty Chavez, a former middle-
boxing, especially the big Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs) catchweight. of barbs traded since the weight champ.q
pay-per-view fights. It really
hurt it,” said Alvarez, who is
a heavy favorite Saturday.
“But I think if you have a
Mexican fighter in the ring
— especially two Mexican
fighters — you’re guaran-
teed fireworks.”
The long-anticipated May-
weather-Pacquiao fight
in May 2015 produced a
record 4.6 million pay-per-
view buys worth about
$400 million. Then the fight
was a dud.
Mayweather took a unani-
mous decision to stay un-
beaten, but was criticized
for a defensive strategy
that produced few fire-
works. It was later revealed
that Pacquiao, who strug-
gled to land punches,
was fighting with an undis-
closed shoulder injury.
No pay-per-view fight
since has had more than
1 million buys in the U.S. as