Tag: Talking Stick Arena

Eddie Hearn: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. would have to fight for less money

Eddie Hearn is willing to give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. another chance on an undercard, but he will have to fight for a lot less money.

Eddie Hearn is willing to give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. another chance on an undercard, but the Matchroom promoter says he will have to fight for a lot less money.

Undercard appearances and smaller purses are just part of a long, difficult challenge facing Chavez Jr., if he in fact tries to come back from a controversial TKO loss last Friday to Danny Jacobs.

The fight ended with a Phoenix crowd tossing debris in anger over Chavez’s decision not to continue after the fifth round.

“It’s gotten to a stage where the only thing he can do is come back on an undercard somewhere,’’ Hearn said on “The Last Round” podcast. “I would probably put him on, but he can’t get the money he’s been getting, and he has to come back at a lower level and try and get a good win.’’

After undergoing surgery for a broken nose and getting 10 stitches for a cut above an eye, Chavez Jr, said he intends to fight again. He even asked Jacobs for a rematch

Promoter Eddie Hearn would give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. another chance but he’d have to fight on an undercard for less money. Melina Pizano / Matchroom Boxing USA

But Hearn said he needs a string of bouts to repair a reputation as fractured as that nose. It’ll be awhile before he’ll be back in a main event for big money. According to contracts filed with the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, Chavez Jr. was guaranteed $2 million for the Jacobs fight. An additional $1 million form Mexican media and advertisers was believed to be in his final paycheck.

However, he paid Jacobs $1 million when he knew he couldn’t make 168 pounds. That was the price to renegotiate the deal, making it a 173-pound fight instead of a super middleweight bout. Chavez, who was 172.7 at the weigh-in and looked to be at least 190 at opening bell, wound up with maybe $2 million.

Hearn said he would pay him $100,000 for a comeback bout on a Matchroom-promoted undercard. He also said Chavez Jr. should fight at light heavyweight (175-pound limit).

Hearn said he still likes Chavez Jr.’s potential. He also likes his drawing power, which is linked to his iconic father, Julio Cesar Chavez. The fight was uncertain four days before opening bell. That’s when a Nevada judge granted Chavez Jr. an injunction lifting his suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He was under suspension for allegedly refusing a drug test in early October. The day before the judge’s ruling, about 5,000 tickets had been sold. At opening bell, an estimated crowd of 12,000 was at Talking Stick Arena in downtown Phoenix.

“The numbers are great,’’ Hearn said.

But the question remains: Will Chavez Jr. accept smaller purses on any undercard?

“Do you want to fight for $100,000 in a 10-rounder at 7 (p.m.)?’’ Hearn said. “He may think he’s above that. ‘I’m Chavez Jr.’

“If he truly loves the sport, he might do it. If not, he won’t bother.’’

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has surgery on broken nose

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had surgery for a broken nose and needed 10 stitches for a cut above his left eye following his loss to Danny Jacobs.

PHOENIX – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. underwent surgery for a fractured nose and needed 10 stitches for a cut above his left eye following his controversial loss to Danny Jacobs on Friday night at Talking Stick Arena.

Chavez is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks, according to members of his camp. He asked for a rematch with Jacobs.

However, any chance at an immediate rematch appeared unlikely after a bout that ended with angry fans tossing debris into the ring in outrage at Chavez’s abrupt decision not to continue after the fifth round.

Jacobs said he wants to move on in a quest to win a super middleweight title.

“I want to fight the biggest in the division,’’ he said. “… There’s Billy Joe Saunders and a lot of other champions.” One of them, Callum Smith, was at ringside Friday.

Jacobs (36-3, 30 KOS), a former middleweight champ, also said he wants a rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin, who beat him in a close decision at 160 pounds.

Chavez (51-4-1, 33 KOs), who was at 172.7 pounds at the weigh-in and appeared to be at least 190 at the opening bell, accused Jacobs of dirty tactics. He said he was injured by headbutts and elbows from Jacobs. However, video shows that Jacobs cut Chavez above the eye with a right hand. Another right hand in the fight appears to break Chavez’s nose.

Chavez’s corner informed the referee Wes Melton and ringside physician Dr. Robin MacDougall that he couldn’t continue because he couldn’t breathe. Apparently, his breathing was restricted by blood from the fractures in the nose. However, MacDougall said he was never got to examine Chavez, who was taken to a Phoenix hospital after the bout.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has overstayed his welcome

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.

Daniel Jacobs: Near riot spoiled tribute to Patrick Day

Daniel Jacobs had planned to honor Patrick Day with a speech after his victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. but the crowd had other ideas.

Daniel Jacobs leaves Phoenix with a victory at a heavier weight, some newfound fans and $1 million more than he expected when he arrived. But he also departs with one regret.

He didn’t get a chance to remember an absent friend the way he had hoped to.

There was an angry crowd, boos and a shower of debris instead of a solemn moment for Patrick Day.

“I really was looking forward to giving a speech about my friend Patrick Day afterwards,’’ Jacobs said after fans threw cups of beer, bottles, chairs and just about anything else not anchored to the floor at Talking Stick Arena in outrage at Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s decision not to continue after the fifth round Saturday night on DAZN.

Jacobs came into the ring wearing a custom-made robe and trunks in honor of Day, a middleweight who died four days after suffering brain trauma during a fight in early October. “Patrick Day, All Day“ was stitched in blue on the back of the rob and across the trunks.

But plans for heartfelt memorial were undone by the rush for cover.

“To me, that kind of spoiled that moment, in order for me to really honor him the right way,’’ Jacobs said. “But this is boxing. This is a crazy, hectic sport. I wouldn’t assume anything else.’’

Crowd erupts when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. quits against Daniel Jacobs

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.

Is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. doomed to fate Chavez Sr. suffered in Phoenix?

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.

Daniel Jacobs feeling strong, energized at his new weight

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.’’

Daniel Jacobs to fight in memory of fallen friend Patrick Day

Daniel Jacobs is honoring the late Patrick Day with a special robe he plans to wear into the ring on Dec. 20.

All Day
Patrick Day

Those are the words, inscribed at the top and bottom of a robe introduced this week by Daniel Jacobs.

Words to live by. Words to fight for.

Jacobs will fight in memory of his old friend on Dec. 20 at Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix. For now, he is scheduled to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. But that could change, subject to a lawsuit Chavez has filed in Nevada in an attempt to get a ruling that will allow him to fight in Arizona despite his suspension in Nevada for refusing to undergo a drug test.

The opponent doesn’t seem to matter much. Instead, Jacobs’ heartfelt fight to honor a fallen friend is the story.

“Boxing is not the same,’’ Jacobs said when the super middleweight fight was announced.

But feelings for Day are unchanged, stronger than ever since Day died four days after suffering brain trauma in a fight on Oct. 12.

“The robe is symbolic of what he meant to me,” Jacobs said in a conference call.

Jacobs introduced the robe and trunks on social media this week. In addition to All Day, Patrick Day, there is picture of the middleweight, a Rest in Paradise inscription and the dates of his short life, 1992-2019.

The grief is still there, Jacobs said. But he is also prepared to re-enter the ring and confront the dangers that killed a friend.

“I know he would want me to not be sad, to be an inspiration in the ring,’’ said Jacobs, who plans to give the robe and trunks to Day’s family. “That’s who he was. We sparred numerous times in the ring, spent countless hours together. He was a beautiful person, and I know he would want me to keep moving forward.”

Moving forward every day, All Day.