Chavez Jr. Reveals That Nacho May Train Him For Canelo

By Miguel Rivera

A new trainer has entered the race to prepare Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for the upcoming Mexican mega-match with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

The HBO Pay-Per-View fight is scheduled to take place on May 6th at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds.

Chavez Jr. is looking for a well-known veteran trainer to get him ready for the contest - where Chavez Jr. would have to squeeze down to his lowest weight since September 2012, when he lost his WBC middleweight title to Sergio Martinez.

Chavez Jr. was first looking to secure his former trainer, Freddie Roach of the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, California.

But Roach told BoxingScene.com that he wasn't interested and simply had no time - as he's preparing Manny Pacquiao for a ring return in late April, and that entire camp could very well take place overseas to accommodate Pacquiao's work schedule as a senator in the Philippines.

The second choice for Chavez Jr. was another former trainer, Robert Garcia, who has a gym in Riverside, California.

But there is a big problem with securing Garcia as well - because Chávez Jr. wants to hold his training camp at the Otomí Ceremonial Center in Mexico, where he already started working with his uncle Rodolfo Chávez.

Garcia is very firm that he will not leave his stable of fighters in order to travel to Mexico to train Chavez for eight weeks.

"I have a team at my gym in Riverside, fighters who come to my gym at Riverside. I think it's not fair for a fighter, no matter how big the fight, to leave them alone or with my assistants when they are the ones who are looking for me," said Robert Garcia to ESPN Deportes.

"I think if Julio is looking for my services, I'm happy to do it and he has all of the potential to beat Canelo, but the camp has to be in Riverside. I would love to be a part of that fight and I know we can do good things with Julio because he has the strength, he has the reach, the power, he has everything to beat Canelo, but he has to be at Riverside for camp."

Now Chavez Jr. is turning his attention to Hall of Famer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain - who is based in Mexico and best known for being the head trainer of former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez.

Training with Beristain would allow Chavez to hold his camp in Mexico. There is no confirmation, as of yet, if Beristain is interested in the assignment or has potential conflicts with some of his other fighters. Beristain is a no-nonsense trainer who will not tolerate any laziness or lackluster training sessions from Chavez.