Chavez Jr. Plans To Arrive in Las Vegas at 169 For Fight Week

By Miguel Rivera

Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. continues to work hard at the high altitude training facility of the Otomi Ceremonial Center in Mexico.

Chavez Jr. is preparing for his scheduled showdown with fellow Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, which is taking place on May 6th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The HBO Pay-Per-View fight has a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds. Chavez Jr. will be making his lowest weight since 2012, when he was competing as a middleweight. In recent years he's fought as high as 172-pounds. Canelo is coming up from the junior middleweight limit of 154.

Chavez Jr. is getting his body in top form, working with his team led by Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristáin, conditioning coach Memo Heredia and uncle Rodolfo Chavez.

They plan to arrive in Las Vegas, for fight week, weighing 169 pounds, only 4.5 pounds away from the contract limit. According to a recent statement by Nacho, Chavez Jr. is already getting down to as low as 172 after tough workouts.

By April 15 they expect to be in Mexico City where they would train for a couple of weeks before traveling to the border area, then Los Angeles and finally Las Vegas by Monday, May 1. The promotional activities will start a day later.

"The truth is that we are doing very well, right now Junior is at 174-177 pounds. We are going to get to Las Vegas at 169 pounds and then we'll be able to play with the weight. There should be no problem if Julio maintains the rhythm of work that he's been showing in the camp," said Memo to ESPN Deportes.

"They are still a couple of weeks of hard work. We've already been lowering the intensity a little, because he's going to work more on his speed and boxing with Don Nacho, but at least 10 more days we will be here at the Otomí and I have no doubt that Julio will achieve his goals based on what he's been doing throughout the preparation."