Julio Cesar Martinez will make his first title defense against Jay Harris on a Feb. 29 card featuring the Mikey Garcia-Jessie Vargas bout.
Julio Cesar Martinez didn’t celebrate for long. He introduced himself as a flyweight champion in December and he will fight to validate his sudden place alongside the other 112-pound champs with a title defense in February.
Martinez (15-1, 12 KO) will make his first title defense on Feb. 29 against Jay Harris (17-0, 9 KOs) of Wales on a DAZN card featuring the Mikey Garcia-Jessie Vargas welterweight bout in Frisco, Texas, it was announced this week.
Martinez got the only cheers on a card remembered for the debris tossed at Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Dec 20 in Phoenix. Martinez displayed power and poise, winning a ninth-round TKO of former champion Cristofer Rosales, a Nicaraguan who had never been stopped.
“I’m so happy to be back fighting so soon,’’ Martinez said. “It was a special moment to become world champion but now I must continue to work hard.’’
In part, the 24-year-old Martinez, of Mexico City, is staying busy in an attempt to gain some name recognition.
“It’s perfect to have Julio back fighting so quickly,’’ said Martinez trainer Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Canelo Alvarez. “It’s all part of developing him as a fighter. He has so much potential, and I believe he is going to dominate and unify the division in time.’’
Despite Martinez’s new found title, Harris has a better record. The Welshman is unbeaten (17-0, 9 KOs). He scored a fourth-round stoppage of three-time Olympian and two-time bronze medalist Paddy Barnes on Oct. 11 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
“Julio is a great young fighter,” Harris said, “but I am feeling in the form of my life and this gives me the opportunity to shock the world.”
Joseph Parker plans to resume training in Las Vegas with hopes of getting back into the heavyweight title mix with a fight in February.
Joseph Parker plans to resume training in Las Vegas with hopes of getting back into the heavyweight title mix with a fight in February.
Parker manager David Higgins told Sky Sports that he will leave New Zealand for Vegas within a few days for a fight against an opponent not yet announced by promoter Eddie Hearn.
“There are concrete plans, which it’s not my place to announce,’’ Higgins said. “But there is a date and a venue, and it’s the opponent we’re waiting on.
“We’ve just been told it will be late February and in the United States.’’
Hearn’s next major card in the U.S. features Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas in a welterweight bout on Feb. 28 in Frisco, Texas on DAZN.
Parker, who lost a heavyweight belt to Anthony Joshua on March 31, 2018, was scheduled to fight Dereck Chisora in October. However, he withdrew, reportedly from illness suffered from a spider bite.
Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) has fought three times since his loss by unanimous decision to Joshua in Cardiff, Wales. He won two and lost one, losing to Dillian White and beating Alexander Flores and Alex Leapai.
Mikey Garcia said he was “slow, sluggish and tired” in his shutout loss to Errol Spence in March.
Mikey Garcia seems to be as upbeat as possible going into his fight against Jessie Vargas on Feb. 29.
The one-sided loss to Errol Spence last March? It’s like it didn’t happen, according to a report on BoxingScene.com. Garcia insists he believes in himself as much now as he did before Spence shut him down and out.
Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) went into that fight undefeated.
“My mind is not on the loss,” he told BoxingScene. “It’s to keep moving forward in a positive direction. Losses are a part of boxing. You lost. So what? I fought the best guy in the division and moved up two weight classes. Why should I be sad and crying? If I keep dwelling on the past, then I’ll be depressed. That’s not who I am.
“Fast forward to now, I’m f—— excited! I’ve been on a high hitting on everything that I wanted. This is f—— badass. I can’t believe how I took that loss; it’s like nothing ever happened. I keep going, and I’m doing very well.”
Garcia said he simply had an off night against Spence.
“There’s a lot more I can deliver that wasn’t shown in my last fight,” he said. “I know that for a fact. My fans know that I can provide more, but for whatever reason, I just wasn’t able to. I was slow, sluggish and tired versus Spence.
“Everything that could have went wrong, went wrong, and there was nothing else I could do. I want to prove that I am faster, smarter and stronger.”
Garcia will face Vargas (29-2-2, 11 KOs) at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on DAZN.
Ryota Murata could be in line for a big fight against one of DAZN’s tentpole middleweights in Canelo Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin in 2020.
DAZN’s great appetite for subscribers may net Ryota Murata a big fight against either Gennadiy Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez in 2020.
According to a Yahoo! Japan report, DAZN is pushing for a matchup that pits one of their flagship fighters against the Japanese middleweight star because of stalled subscriber growth in its U.S. market.
The report’s sources also say that DAZN did not have the surge that they expected in Alvarez’s last fight in November, against Sergey Kovalev.
All of which makes both Golovkin and Alvarez realistic possibilities next year for the 33-year-old Murata, perhaps the most active high-profile professional boxer in Japan.
DAZN, which has exclusive rights to Golovkin and Alvarez, also has a relationship with Murata. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist fought for DAZN Japan one time, an upset loss to Rob Brant last year.
DAZN’s stalled growth in the U.S. could be a boon to Ryota Murata in Japan. Murata is pictured celebrating his victory over Steve Butler. AP Photo / Toru Takahashi
Murata is coming off a fifth-round technical knockout of Steven Butler last week. The victory capped a marked turnaround for Murata, who began the year by avenging his loss to Brandt. Afterward, his promoters – Teiken’s Akihiko Honda and Top Rank’s Bob Arum – both expressed their desire to see Murata fight either Golovkin or Alvarez in 2020, ideally before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Yahoo! Japan also reported that Golden Boy executive Roberto Diaz said Murata is definitely on the table for Alvarez. And Canelo said during the DAZN streaming of the Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua rematch in Saudi Arabia that he would consider fighting in Japan.
Should the fight happen, it would most likely take place at 168. An Alvarez-Murata fight at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome could rival a fight between Alvarez and either Billy Joe Saunders or Callum Smith in England.
Hall of Famer Erik Morales was critical of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for quitting and his father for defending him.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been criticized in Mexico over his decision to quit after the fifth round because of a broken nose suffered against Danny Jacobs.
Erik Morales, one Mexico’s greats, ripped Chavez Jr. and his iconic father, Julio Cesar Chavez, who defended him in the wake of widespread outrage at the abrupt end to the fight Friday night at Talking Stick Arena on DAZN.
Angry fans at the arena booed and tossed debris at Chavez after the fight.
“When you are hurt or suffer a fracture you can fight,” Morales said Sunday on Twitter. “The decision not to fight should be respected, but the decision of those who paid to see a show must also be respected.
“You cannot disrespect the fans and journalists with loud words because they think differently. The fans should be respected.”
Within hours after fans in a crowd of about 12,000 threw cups full of beer, plastic water bottles and assorted other garbage at the ring, Chavez Sr. took to social media in defense of his son.
Chavez Jr. said his injures were the result of dirty tactics – head butts and elbows – although video clearly shows that a right hand from Jacobs broke his nose and cut him above the left eye.
“With all due respect to the fans of Phoenix, Arizona, right now I disagree with you, my son was making a competitive fight and was winning,” wrote Chavez, who appeared in a photo next to his son in a hospital bed. “Unfortunately, a head clash and an elbow comes and my son has a broken nose and will now undergo surgery.’’
His son had surgery for fractures in his nose and had 10 stitches for the cut above his eye.
Another notable fighter, Mikey Garcia, also criticized Chavez Jr., according to promoter Eddie Hearn. Garcia was seated at ringside next to Hearn and near Jessie Vargas. They were there to help promote their fight Feb. 29 in Frisco, Texas. The welterweight bout on DAZN was announced last week.
When Chavez Jr. said he would not continue, Hearn said Garcia turned to him and said:
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s antics before, during and after his fight with Daniel Jacobs on Friday left fans exasperated with his act.
PHOENIX – First, it was an injured hand. Then, it was a broken nose. So, what was it? Then, he blamed headbutts and elbows. He blamed the referee.
Then, Julio Chavez Jr. apologized to the fans, but not for his own performance, or the litany of confusing excuses, or anything else throughout a chaotic week that ended in unforgiving fans outraged at his decision not to continue after the fifth round.
They erupted, throwing cups of beer, cans, bottles and chairs. The debris was their answer to Chavez Jr.’s apology. They’re not buying it, not any of it. It was an ugly response. There were no winners at Talking Stick Arena, other than a classy Danny Jacobs, who rose above the outrage and the debris.
If anybody is owed an apology, it’s Gabe Rosado, who was on the card as a potential substitute for Chavez Jr. Not long after Chavez Jr. played the blame game in an interview with DAZN and not long after the last bit of garbage had been swept from a floor still slick and sticky from stale beer, Rosado was in the ring, fighting Humberto Ochoa. Rosado won a decision. But who knew?
The arena was empty, cleared by security nervous about a full-blown riot. The mob was gone. In a back room, promoter Eddie Hearn and Jacobs talked to the remaining reporters who had come out from underneath their work tables near ringside.
Trainer Freddie Roach (left) said Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had surgery on his broken nose. Melina Pizano / Matchroom Boxing USA
Chavez Jr. was long gone. Trainer Freddie Roach later said his fighter was in a Phoenix hospital, undergoing surgery for a fractured nose. Nothing about the hand. Then, a photo was posted on social media of Julio Chavez Sr., the iconic dad at his son’s bedside. It was posted as way to confirm that he was in fact hurt.
But questions continue to swirl, mostly because more than a nose got broken Friday night. Chavez Jr.’s credibility is broken beyond repair.
Chavez Jr. tried to explain away the defeat, saying Jacobs got away with dirty tactics.
“I was getting close, but got headbutted above the left eye,’’ Chavez said to DAZN. “Then, I had problems because of all the blood. I came over to the corner and couldn’t breathe. He elbowed me, and headbutted me. Very tough fight. I felt I couldn’t go, cause I couldn’t breathe properly. The ref wasn’t calling anything.”
But it was clear what had happened. A crisp right hand, Hearn would say later, from Jacobs and blood immediately began to drip from Chavez’s nose. It was there, on video that played and re-played. Then, there was the eye. Chavez had been complaining to Jacobs. Jacobs listened and then looked up at video after the fight and saw that his right hand landed, cutting Chavez Jr. above the eye late in the fourth.
Still, Chavez Jr. looked for excuses. They worked before. They had worked all week. On Tuesday, Chavez Jr, got an injunction from a Nevada judge, allowing him to keep a pending Arizona license he needed for the fight. Then, he missed weight at 172.7 pounds. He was nearly five over the contracted 168, which was more than enough to know he never intended to make weight. No problem, he bought his way back into the fight by re-negotiating the deal. The bout would be at 173 pounds instead of 168. It cost him $1 million. But it looked like it was an investment that would allow him to get even bigger by opening bell.
Jacobs (left) said Chavez was so big he felt like Roy Jones Jr. against heavyweight John Ruiz. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing USA
He was huge.
“I felt like Roy Jones Jr against John Ruiz,’’ Jacobs said, recalling Jones’ victory for a heavyweight title in March 2003.
From weight to money, Chavez Jr. had all the advantages. But he had run out of cheap excuses. Fans, who had heard them for years, heard them again all over again. Deja-boo. By fight time, their deep well of patience for Chavez was exhausted. Instead, there was an edgy sense of betrayal
For years, Chavez Jr. could do no wrong. For years, there was faith that he would eventually fulfill a destiny that is apparently tied to his name.
For the fans, it was an expectation. For Chavez Jr., it was an entitlement. Now, however, there is only exasperation, which was expressed badly. The fans should apologize, too. But it’s a violent game in the ring and often in the crowd. You’ll hear no apology from them, mostly because they’ve had it. Faith in Chavez also got broken beyond repair Friday night. It was a violent goodbye from the fans who won’t forgive, forget or be back.
“I’d love to have a rematch,’’ Chavez Jr. told DAZN.
Little late for that. Any chance of a rematch with those fans is gone. That’s really what was in all of that debris Friday night.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. quit after the fifth round against Daniel Jacobs on Friday in Phoenix, sparking a near riot.
PHOENIX – Boos, then beer came from an angry crowd.
There was only contempt for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Friday night after he quit after the fifth round in a TKO loss to Daniel Jacobs at Talking Stick Arena.
Chavez Jr., who angered Mexican fans when he failed to make the 168-pound weight limit and then paid Jacobs $1 million from his contracted $2 million, outraged an estimated crowd of 12,000 when his corner suddenly signaled he would not continue.
A happy crowd suddenly became a mob. Chavez (51-4-1, 33 KOs) left the ring under a shower of cups and beer. Officials headed for cover, racing away from the ring with ring cards as cover. Fights erupted in the stands. It was dangerous. It was scary.
It was also a lot like what happened to his iconic father, Julio Cesar Chavez, in a 2000 fight, also in Phoenix. After he lost to Kostya Tszyu, the crowd erupted in anger, throwing debris and forcing fans to take cover. Chavez Sr. was in the crowd. The moment couldn’t have been a good one. The memory of what happened nearly two decades ago couldn’t have been a happy one either.
In Friday’s immediate aftermath, it wasn’t clear why Chavez quit. It looked as if a right hand from Jacobs (36-3, 30 KOs) might have broken his nose. And, indeed, Chavez trainer Freddie Roach told DAZN broadcasters that his fighter said he couldn’t breathe.
Blood immediately began to pour from his nostrils. One look from his corner and it was over. So, too, was any chance of the son ever fulfilling a destiny that so many of his fans thought he had inherited.
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. suffered his final two losses in Phoenix. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has a chance to change the family fortune there.
PHOENIX – A father and son, Julio Cesar Chavez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., stood in front of an arena Thursday in the center of a city named for a mythical bird rising from the ashes. They’ve been here before, in different eras, yet both for the same reason.
Father fought to relaunch his career, save it from those ashes, two decades ago against Kostya Tszyu.
Now, it’s his son’s turn Friday night against Danny Jacobs at Talking Stick Arena on DAZN in a fight that was uncertain until Tuesday when a Nevada judge issued an injunction, lifting a suspension that allowed Chavez to retain his license in Arizona.
The fight is on, or at least it was late Thursday. But controversy continued to swirl at an early morning weigh-in. Chavez Jr. stepped on the scale to test his weight for a bout contracted to be at super middleweight. He realized there was no way he would make 168 pounds. He was nearly five pounds too heavy. He was due to step on the scale officially within about an hour. Those five pounds might as well have been 500. There was no magic way to shed them. Forget the sauna or some hasty road work on Phoenix streets still clogged by rush-hour traffic.
It was time to make a deal or toss the advertised fight into that ash can. Talks quickly began with Chavez leaving and re-entering the ballroom for the weigh-in repeatedly. Finally, he smiled. They had a deal, a re-negotiated contract. The fight would be at 173 pounds. Chavez made that weight, no problem. In his official trip to the scale he was at 172.7 pounds. Jacobs, a former middleweight champion moving up in weight, was at 167.9.
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. (right) ran into an old friend at his son’s weigh-in Thursday in Phoenix, local hero Michael Carbajal. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing USA
But the deal didn’t happen without a price. According to multiple sources at the weigh-in, Chavez Jr. agreed to pay Jacobs $1 million. According to contracts filed with the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, the purses for Chavez Jr. and Jacobs are $2 million each. But the redone agreement means Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) walks away from the 173-pound bout with $3 million and Chavez (51-3-1, 33 KOs) with $1 million.
It’s expensive, but it’s an investment in a future that still looks uncertain for Chavez. In effect, he is fighting to put some air under his wings and some distance from those ashes. It’s risky, at least it appears to be, according to the bookmakers who have made Jacobs an 18-1 favorite. But Chavez Jr. is always dangerous. He lost a one-sided decision to Sergio Martinez, yet he staged an astonishing 12th-round, nearly knocking out Martinez in wild three minutes that effectively ended Martinez’s career.
He has father’s heavy hands, which means he has a chance. His father was there Thursday at a ceremonial weigh-in outside of the arena where his career ended against an Omaha car salesman, Grover Wiley. Chavez failed to get off the stool after the fourth round in bout that had been advertised as one stop on a goodbye tour of cities. As it turned out, it was a final goodbye.
The senior Chavez had been there once before, just a few miles away at the old Veterans Memorial Coliseum on July 29, 2000. He had come to Arizona because he had been told he would not be licensed in Nevada. At the time, everybody from leading media personalities to late Senator John McCain openly questioned whether Chavez could still fight. Rather than risk a license denial in Nevada, he applied for one in Arizona. It was granted.
Chavez Jr. was in good spirits only after salvaging his fight with Daniel Jacobs by renegotiating their deal after Chavez was unable to make weight. Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA
The card drew a capacity crowd. Tzyu overwhelmed Chavez, stopping him in the sixth round. Chavez left the arena, refusing to submit to a drug test. There were reports in The Arizona Republic that 100 DEA agents were in the crowd, looking for suspects alleged to be in the drug trade. It was a wild night. Controversial, from start to finish.
If it sounds familiar, it is. The Nevada Commission suspended Chavez Jr. for allegedly refusing a drug test in late October. That’s when Matchroom Promotions moved the card to Arizona and Chavez Jr. filed a suit, winning an injunction.
Meanwhile, controversy still sells. Promoter Eddie Hearn says ticket sales have been brisk in the couple of days since the injunction. He expects a crowd of 10,000. But more wouldn’t be a surprise to anybody who knows the Phoenix market. It’s a walk-up town. A couple of thousand showed up at Veterans Memorial Coliseum a few hours before Chavez-Tszyu nearly 20 years ago.
It could happen all over again. The geography, some of the circumstances and last name are the same. But only the son can change the result and make that bird fly.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. missed weight by almost five pounds, forcing him to renegotiate his contract with opponent Daniel Jacobs.
PHOENIX – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. weighed 172.7 pounds, 4.7 pounds heavier than the super middleweight limit, at the official weigh-in Thursday morning, forcing him to re-negotiate the contract for his fight with Danny Jacobs at Talking Stick Arena.
Promoter Eddie Hearn and Francisco Meneses, executive director of the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, said Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) and Chavez Jr. (51-3-1, 33 KOs) agreed on a catch weight of 173 pounds for the bout Friday on DAZN.
Jacobs made weight, coming in at 167.7 pounds. The exact terms of the new deal were not disclosed.
“It’s not a surprise,’’ Hearn said. “He had a nightmare camp with the legal situation hanging over him and all.’’
Chavez Jr wasn’t cleared to fight until Tuesday. That’s when a Nevada judge granted him an injunction, lifting his suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for allegedly refusing to submit to a drug test in late October. The Arizona Commission had already licensed Chavez. If the judge had ruled against him, however, the license would have been withdrawn.
PHOENIX – A new weight might mean a renewed Daniel Jacobs. He’s climbing up the scale and away from the grinding, often dangerous battle to make weight. Call it a debut and a departure from a struggle that has left Jacobs drawn, drained and – in the …
PHOENIX — A new weight might mean a renewed Daniel Jacobs. He’s climbing up the scale and away from the grinding, often dangerous battle to make weight.
Call it a debut and a departure from a struggle that has left Jacobs drawn, drained and – in the end – defeated.
“You guys don’t understand the damage I was doing to my body trying to make weight,’’ Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) said at the final news conference before his first fight at super middleweight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (51-3-1, 33 KOs) Friday at Talking Stick Arena on DAZN.
In his last fight, in early May, Jacobs, still a middleweight, lost a decision to Canelo Alvarez. He also lost some money, a fine assessed when he failed to make the weight mandated by a re-hydration contract clause on the morning of the bout.
Daniel Jacobs will be fighting for the first time as a full-fledged 168-pounder against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Friday in Phoenix. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing USA
Jacobs was 3.6 pounds heavier than the mandated 170, which is 10 pounds heavier than the 160-limit he made at the formal weigh-in less than 24 hours earlier. According to the contract, he was penalized $250,000 for each pound. Any ounce more than three pounds would be rounded up to a fourth pound, also according to the contract. It wound up costing Jacobs $1 million.
Damage to the body.
Damage to the wallet, too.
Time to move.
“I feel strong,’’ said Jacobs, who has dedicated the fight to the late Patrick Day, his longtime friend who died four days after suffering head trauma in a fight on Oct. 12. “I feel like this is the perfect weight for me. I’m only two pounds away from 168, and for me, that’s the first time ever. I’m probably going to eat breakfast on the morning of the fight.
“We looked exceptional in the gym but, those last two weeks prior to making weight, we’d leave it in the gym. Now, I have an opportunity to carry over those skills, to be hydrated, to be 100 percent. The skills in the gym that my team sees? I am allowing the world an opportunity to see that.’’
