By Rick Reeno
Both Top Rank and Lou DiBella have confirmed that a deal has been reached for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31KOs) to defend his WBC middleweight title against Andy Lee (28-1, 20KOs) in an HBO televised main event on June 16th at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
"I like Andy Lee as the opponent. I think it's a great fight," Arum told BoxingScene.com on Sunday when the deal was close to being finalized.
While Chavez-Lee has been agreed upon, a deal is also close for the winner to face WBC mandatory challenger Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28KOs) on an HBO pay-per-view date in September.
Lou DiBella, who promotes both Lee and Martinez, is confident a deal will get finalized for the Chavez-Lee winner to face Martinez.
"This is a great opportunity for Andy. And right now we're trying to get a deal done for the winner to fight Sergio Martinez. The major terms have been agreed on, between me and [Top Rank CEO] Bob Arum. We just have to work out some minor obstacles. But even Arum will tell you the same thing I said, there shouldn't be any problems with getting it done [a deal for Chavez-Lee winner to face Martinez]," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.