By Rick Reeno

According to Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0, 30KOs) will remain on course to a May clash with WBC champion Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10KOs). Two weeks ago in Culiacan, Mexico, Chavez won a unimpressive ten round decision over fringe contender Billy Lyell. Chavez's trainer, Freddie Roach, and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, were not happy with his performance.

Arum blames inactivity and a lack of preparation for Chavez's effort against Lyell. It was Chavez's first fight since last June's decision win over John Duddy. The veteran promoter is confident the Mexican star will put together an impressive showing against Zbik. Because of Arum's inability to secure HBO dates for Chavez, he plans to approach Showtime about possibly televising the fight with Zbik. If Showtime decides to pick it up, the fight would likely head to venue outside of Mexico.

"He hadn't fought for a while. His training camp wasn't long enough. Billy Lyell is a tough fighter. [Zbik] is the next fight. We have confidence in Julio. Mexico would pay a lot of money to have that fight. It could happen in Mexico, or possibly in Cowboys Stadium. We have never been able to get him on HBO, because our company name is not Golden Boy, but that's okay because now there are two players and we are certainly going to talk to Showtime about televising Chavez's championship fight, which in that case we would have to move it outside of Mexico because Showtime and HBO do not want to go into Mexico," Arum said to BoxingScene.com.