By Miguel Rivera
Golden Boy Promotions is planning a very big promotional tour for the upcoming HBO Pay-Per-View clash of Mexican superstars. Last Friday, a deal was finalized for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to collide at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds.
The fight is scheduled for May 6th, with the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and AT&T Stadium in Texas under consideration for the host venue.
The promotional tour will begin in the second half of February, with the first stop talking place in Mexico - and that will surely bring out an army of local fans to watch the two boxers go face to face.
Golden Boy has confirmed discussions with World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman to create a commemorative championship belt for the contest.
"This fight is for Mexico, for Mexican boxing which for us at Golden Boy is very important. We are very proud to be an international company but obviously with me personally having Mexican roots - I am very proud that this fight can be done because it is a very important fight for Mexican boxing," said Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya to ESPN Deportes.
"It is one of the most important fights in recent years. Boxing in general needs this fight and for this reason we did it and we thank Chavez, Canelo, everyone who made this possible. We did this fight to give respect to the Mexican public, the Mexican fans."
Besides the stop in Mexico, Golden Boy is looking stretch out the Canelo-Chavez promotional tour to New York, Los Angeles, Florida, Texas, Las Vegas and tentatively Cancun.
De La Hoya told ESPN Deportes that if he has his way, the fight will take place at the MGM Grand.
"For me, at the MGM there is more history... Mike Tyson fought there, Julio Cessar Chavez opened the arena... I fought there, so MGM would be the perfect arena for this event, but it depends on what [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones says."
Golden Boy is also planning a stacked undercard, which De La Hoya says is likely going to include the ring return of Argentina's Lucas Matthysse - who would be making his debut at the welterweight limit of 147-pounds. Matthysee has been out of the ring since October of 2015, when he suffered a knockout loss at the hands of Viktor Postol.
