By Jake Donovan


An old name has resurfaced in the career of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., as the who, when and where have been revealed for the undefeated middleweight’s next ring appearance.


Tentative plans call for the son of the legendary Mexican fighter to return to the ring on September 11 in Queretaro, Mexico against Carlos Nascimento of Brazil in a 12-round  middleweight bout. Once finalized, the bout will headline a card that airs via pay-per-view in the United States and on TV Azteca in Mexico.


Details of the event were held back until Zanfer Boxing could negotiate a deal with state government authorities to stage the event on the Saturday preceding the bicentennial anniversary of Mexican Independence Day (September 16).


The fight was also contingent upon Nascimento winning a scheduled tune-up in his native Brazil, which he did on Tuesday night in scoring a third round knockout over local retread Odair Jose Theodoro.


Chavez Jr (41-0-1, 31KO) enters the fight on the heels of his biggest win to date, dominant – yet hard-fought – points win over John Duddy in San Antonio this past June.


The bout was his first after serving a six-month suspension due to testing positive for a banned diuretic following his win over Troy Rowland last November. It was also his first fight with new trainer Freddie Roach, having hooked up with the four-time Trainer of the Year less than two months prior.


There were talks of the young Mexican stepping up to face recently dethroned middleweight king Kelly Pavlik, though his handlers have since decided against it.


Whether or not the Pavlik fight had materialized, it’s a safe bet that Nascimento would’ve been the September 11 opponent all along.


The Brazilian puncher sports a glossy record (25-2, 21KO), but both of his losses coincide with the lone two times he has stepped up in competition. He fell way short in his lone title bid, suffering an 11th round stoppage loss at the hands of Sergiy Dzinziruk and was taken out in five rounds by Pawel Wolak last October.


Earlier in 2009, Nascimento was targeted as an opponent for Chavez Jr in a March bout that was to air in the revamped – though now defunct – boxing series on Azteca America. Those plans were scrapped altogether, with Chavez Jr instead facing Lucian Cuello later in the month and on pay-per-view.


Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.