Arum Blasts De La Hoya: Chavez Jr. Still Under Contract!

By Lem Satterfield

In response to an earlier story that was posted on BoxingScene.com, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum has come out swinging. During a recent video interview with AOL FanHouse, Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya expressed his interest in an all-Mexican mega-fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Golden Boy's hot prospect Saul Alvarez. Chavez Jr. is promoted by Golden Boy's business rival, Top Rank.

The Golden President dropped a bombshell when he disclosed that Chavez Jr. is claiming to be a free agent and already reached out to Golden Boy to discuss a possible working relationship. Before De La Hoya's company actually speaks with Chavez Jr., they will verify his free agent status. Chavez is headlining a Top Rank Latin Fury pay-per-view on December 4 against Alfonso Gomez.

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"I believe that it's [Chavez Jr. vs. Alvarez] a possibility, absolutely. I believe that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. made some comments about him being a free agent in Mexico. He has no more contract with Top Rank. He has no more contract with [manager Fernando] Beltran. Obviously, if that's the case, then Julio Cesar Chavez has reached out to us already, saying that we can talk to him," said De La Hoya.

"Well, obviously, we will talk to him and we can talk to him if he has no contract -- if that's the case. But we respect every other contract that every fighter has with every promoter," said De La Hoya. "But if that's the case, then that would be a very special project that we would put together over the next two, three years. Because a fight like that between [Alvarez] and Chavez Jr. would be huge. If Chavez Jr. wants to sit down and talk to us, we're more than happy to talk to him if he has no contract."

Arum was furious when he read the comments from De La Hoya. According to Arum, Chavez has two to three years remaining on his contract with Top Rank/Zanfer Promotions. Arum says Chavez met with Top Rank and [Zanfer President] Fernando Beltran last week to discuss their plan for 2011 and a possible fight with WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto.

"We currently have a two to three year contract with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.," said Arum. "This is tortious interference, and we're referring it to our lawyers, and we're going to take legal action against this moron [De La Hoya]."

"As recently as last week, Julio Jr. was in our office. There is no problem there. He came in with Fernando Beltran," said Arum. "He's fighting on Dec. 4, and we have other fights for him planned next year with Cotto. So, this is totally a baloney story. He's trying to tamper with one of our fighters."

Tension between Golden Boy and Top Rank is at an all-time high. On Sept. 21, Golden Boy Promotions filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Nevada against Top Rank, Arum and Top Rank CFO, David Lopez, accusing the duo of racketeering and fraud and seeking damages in the range of $3 to $5 million plus attorneys fees related to money generated from three Manny Pacquiao fights. Golden Boy Promotions owns a percentage of Pacquiao's promotional contract in accordance with a settlement between the two companies in 2007.

Lem Satterfield is the news editor for BoxingScene.com and the boxing editor for AOL FanHouse. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here .