Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez Jr.

Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. was a professional boxing fight held on May 6, 2017 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Álvarez was declared the winner by unanimous decision, having been judged the winner of all 12 rounds by each of the three ringside judges.[1]

Civil War
DateMay 6, 2017
VenueT-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineNone
Tale of the tape
Boxer Canelo Álvarez Julio César Chávez Jr.
Nickname "Canelo" "La Leyenda Continúa"
Hometown Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Pre-fight record 48–1–1 (34 KO) 50–2–1 (32 KO)
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 164 lb (74 kg) 164 lb (74 kg)
Recognition WBO light middleweight champion.
Ring magazine and lineal middleweight champion.		 Former WBC middleweight champion.
Result
Álvarez wins by unanimous decision

Background

Following Julio César Chávez Jr.'s comeback win against Dominik Britsch in December 2016, he claimed he was back and ready to fight Golovkin at 168 pounds and Álvarez at a 164 catchweight. Negotiations began soon after for a potential HBO PPV fight to take place between Julio César Chávez Jr. and Canelo Álvarez in 2017 on the Cinco de Mayo weekend, as there was interest from both sides that a fight take place. Golden Boy president Eric Gomez confirmed a catchweight of 165 lbs was agreed between both sides.[2][3] WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was on board and said it was a "very attractive fight." and would likely get his organization involved in the fight.[4][5]

Julio César Chávez Sr. spoke on December 18 about the ongoing negotiations saying Golden Boy were offering his son a small amount for the potential big ppv fight. He went on to claim his son was offered a $5m purse with no mention he would get a cut of the ppv revenue, a counter offer was submitted. A rematch clause was also discussed, which Chavez Jr. and his team had no problem with. Chávez Sr. went on to admit that he was fully aware Álvarez is the A-side in the fight, and would settle for no less than 30-35% of the full revenue.[6][7] On December 24, Álvarez and his team gave Chavez a week to accept the terms, which included a purse of $7m, or he would consider other options.[8] On January 12, 2017 De La Hoya and Álvarez called for the contract to be signed, which was supposedly sent to Al Haymon, who advises Chavez Jr. and urged him to sign it.[9] A day later, Chavez Jr. claimed he had agreed all the demands set by Álvarez and was said that he would sign the contract. According to Chavez Jr. the new demands included a weight limit set at 164.5 pounds and a $6 million base purse plus PPV revenue percentages.[10] On January 13, Álvarez officially confirmed the fight to take place on May 6, 2017. A rematch clause was also put in place if Chavez Jr. wins the fight and another clause for every pound Chavez Jr. weighs over the limit, he would be fined $1 million.[11][12][13]

Fight

In front of a sold-out crowd of 20,510, Álvarez won the fight by a shutout unanimous decision in dominating fashion. All three judges scored it 120-108 for Álvarez. Chávez was very cautious throughout the fight. At times, he came forward and also had Álvarez against the ropes, but failed to throw any punches. This led to jeers from the crowd in the later rounds due to lack of action.

Post fight

Álvarez spoke to HBO's Max Kellerman in the post fight interview, speaking of his fighting style, "Tonight, I showed I could move, I could box, I showed as a fighter I can do all things. I thought I was going to showcase myself as a fighter that could throw punches, but he just wouldn't do it. I've shown I can do lots of things in the ring, anything a fighter brings, I've shown I can showcase myself." CompuBox Stats showed that Álvarez landed 228 of 604 his punches thrown (38%) and Chávez landed 71 of 302 (24%). By the end of round 5, Álvarez landed 102 punches compared to Chávez's 25 landed.[14][15][16]

Early figures revealed that the fight generated at least 1 million buys.[17] A replay was shown on regular HBO a week later and drew an average of 769,000 viewers.[18] This was the first boxing match to generate over 1 million PPV buys that didn't include Mayweather, Pacquiao or De La Hoya since 2002, which saw Lennox Lewis retain his heavyweight world titles against Mike Tyson. Later sources confirmed the fight did close to 1.2 million buys, which means it would have generated around $80 million.[19]

Broadcast

The bout was aired on HBO PPV in the US, TV Azteca and Televisa in Mexico, Space in greater Latin America, SporTV in Brazil, BT Sport in the UK and Ireland and Sky Cable in the Philippines.

Cinemas

Fathom Events broadcast the fight live in movie theaters across the US.[20]

References
  1. Rafael, Dan (May 6, 2017). "Canelo Alvarez routs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.; Golovkin fight official". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  2. "Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr wins wide decision over Dominik Britsch, calls for GGG, Canelo - Boxing News". 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  3. "Canelo, Chavez talking Cinco de Mayo weekend bout". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  4. "Canelo and Chavez Jr. in talks for May fight on HBO PPV - The Ring". The Ring. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  5. "Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. - WBC President is on Board, Loves The Fight - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  6. "Chavez Sr: Canelo, Golden Boy are Offering Crumbs To My Son! - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  7. "Chavez Sr: We Know it's Canelo's Time, We Only Want 30-35%". Boxing Scene. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  8. "Canelo gives Chavez Jr. a week to accept terms". Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  9. "Canelo, De La Hoya To Chavez Jr: You Have The Contract - Sign It!". Boxing Scene. January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  10. "Chavez Jr. Ready To Sign Contract For Canelo - Weight is 164.5". Boxing Scene. January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  11. "Canelo to face Chavez Jr. May 6 on HBO PPV at 164.5 pounds - The Ring". The Ring. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  12. "Long-anticipated Canelo-Chavez bout on May 6". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  13. "Chavez Jr: $1 Million Fine For Every Pound I'm Over With Canelo - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  14. Rafael, Dan (2017-05-07). "Canelo Alvarez routs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.; Golovkin fight official". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  15. "Canelo Batters, Dominates Chavez Jr. For Decision Win - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  16. "Canelo Alvarez shuts out Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. - The Ring". The Ring. 2017-05-06. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  17. "Report: Canelo vs. Chavez PPV did 'at least 1 million buys'". Bloody Elbow. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  18. "Canelo-Chavez replay draw 769,000 on HBO : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA". mmapayout.com. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  19. "Canelo-Chavez crosses historic 1M PPV mark". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  20. https://www.fathomevents.com/events/canelo-vs-chavez-jr
Preceded by
vs. Liam Smith		 Canelo Álvarez's bouts
May 6, 2017		 Succeeded by
vs. Gennady Golovkin
Preceded by
vs. Dominik Britisch		 Julio César Chávez Jr.'s bouts
May 6, 2017		 Succeeded by
TBA
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