Chavez Jr. Says There is No Way He Leaves 2016 Without a Fight

By Miguel Rivera

Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (49-2-1, 32KOs) is hungering to return to the ring. He still says there is a good possibility to stage a fight in Mexico City for the month of September, but it all depends on whether his manager, Al Haymon, gives him a date to fight in the United States.

Chavez Jr. is motivated to leave 2016 with having at least one fight under his belt. And he reiterated that if Haymon does not give him a date in the United States, he will explore whether it is possible to fight in Mexico - even though he knows that he will have to sacrifice some of his purse.

"I hope to fight in mid to late September. I want to have at least one fight this year. Inactivity is the worst enemy of any boxer, and the truth is that the best opportunity to make money is in the United States, but I would not mind risking my purse in order to fight in Mexico," Chavez Jr. told ESPN Deportes.

Chavez Jr. has not fought since July 2015, when he defeated Marco Antonio Reyes in El Paso, Texas. In that contest he suffered a hand fracture that kept him out of the ring for the remainder of the year. He then planed a return for April and suffered a heel injury that put him out again.

"The truth is that I have already been raring to get into the ring. The [return] fight would be at 170 pounds but hopefully I get down to 168 pounds. The injuries are doing well. There is a little pain in the hand but it's something I'll always have to deal with," Chavez Jr. added.

"I came for a few days to Tijuana, I talked to Freddie Roach. Because I don't have any certain date I came to spend time with my family, but I'm training. I will continue training with him because I know I can get my best form from him and in my next fight we are going to see."