By Jake Donovan
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum couldn’t be more pleased with the response to the year’s first big stateside boxing card, taking place this weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The main event features unbeaten middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, who takes on the Lone Star State for his second straight fight as he defends against Marco Antonio Rubio. The co-feature pits former flyweight and bantamweight king Nonito Donaire, who moves up in weight to take on former 122 lb. titlist Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in a vacant title fight.
“Ticket sales have been tremendous,” Arum insists of this weekend’s card. “More than 10,000 tickets have already been sold. We expect a crowd of 13,000 or so on fight night.”
Both fights will air live on HBO (10:00PM ET/PT) in the network’s first boxing broadcast of 2012.
The non-televised undercard features unbeaten 154 lb. contender Vanes Martirosyan, as well as several prospects from the southwest. Included among the cast is 17-year old Alex Saucedo, whose pro debut came on the undercard of Chavez Jr’s last fight, a sixth round knockout of Peter Manfredo last November in Houston.
Also included among local talent is the pro debut of bantamweight Adam Lopez, who gets to perform in front of his San Antonio hometown, a town that the event handlers believe carries the pulse of the sport.
“San Antonio is a tremendous fight town with lots of history,” notes Arum. “On Saturday night, they will see two terrific title fights.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
