By Jake Donovan
At this point, perhaps it’s best to just leave Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s name off of the venue altogether.
For the second time this year, the son of arguably the greatest fighter in Mexico’s rich boxing history was forced to pull out of a scheduled fight, leaving this weekend’s supporting cast to carry the load for Top Rank’s independent pay-per-view show in Anaheim, California (Saturday, 9PM ET/6PM PT).
Once upon a time a date reserved for a possible showdown between Chavez Jr and Miguel Cotto, Saturday night’s card will now be headlined by pound-for-pound entrant Nonito Donaire (24-1, 16KO), who makes his bantamweight debut against former titlist Wladimir Sidirenko (22-2-2, 7KO).
Rumors were rampant regarding the possibility of Chavez Jr (41-0-1, 31KO) pulling out of this weekend’s show, which has seen several changes at the top in the past week. He was hit with the flu bug last week, but according to his team tried his hardest to fight through it for the sake of going on with the show.
The wildly popular second generation boxer showed up at the Wild Card Gym on Monday after recovering from the flu, but relapsed this morning, forcing his handlers to pull the plug on his scheduled ring appearance this weekend.
“Julio got here (Monday) with a low-grade fever,” explained Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach for all Freddie Roach-trained fighters, most notably current pound-for-pound king and top box office draw Manny Pacquiao. “We didn’t think it was anything to worry about. In fact, the weight was no longer an issue – the flu kind of helped us out.”
Then came the next day, with the silver lining stripped from the equation.
“(Tuesday) morning, Julio woke up with a fever,” Ariza revealed. “The digital thermometer read 102.8º, at which point we informed Bob (Arum, Top Rank CEO) that he had to pull out of the fight.”
Chavez Jr’s removal from the show marked the third significant change regarding the main event in the span of less than a week.
Late last week, it was revealed that the originally scheduled opponent, Alfonso Gomez was forced to withdraw from the show, leaving the event’s handlers to scramble for a replacement.
They quickly found one in fringe contender Pawel Wolak, who agreed to terms on short notice, including the modified weight limit of 165 lb.
Wolak (27-1, 17KO) remains on the show, as he will now face Mexican super welterweight prospect Jose Pinzon (18-1-1, 12KO).
As for Chavez Jr, the plan is to now bring him back sometime in the first quarter of 2011.
However, the originally targeted showdown with Cotto is officially off the table; Arum prefers that his young cash cow instead take “at least one, but ideally two fights at 154 lb,” before revisiting the possibility of a fight against someone of Cotto’s ilk.
Rescheduling a fight with Gomez remains a distinct possibility, which is good news for the former Contender participant, who would benefit from a fight at a weight lower than the originally agreed-upon 160 lb. limit.
“(Gomez) is certainly a possibility,” Arum suggested. “He is a favorite of ours, a real warrior. It’s a fight we liked for this weekend, and no reason why we can’t revisit it when Julio is ready to return to the ring next year.”
Meanwhile, this weekend’s show goes on, although Arum has extended to fans the option of receiving a refund for those who were pining to see Chavez this weekend.
While none of the remaining bouts warrant pay-per-view headliner, the collective under card as a whole was strong enough to where those willing to tune in will certainly be entertained.
Even if it means a loss at the box office, proceeding with the show was always Arum’s plan first and foremost, regardless of who tops the bill.
“I feel deeply for these young fighters on the show,” Arum insisted, in referring to matchups such as Donaire-Sidirenko, Humberto Soto, Urbano Antillon and Miguel Garcia, among others. “With Christmas coming they are counting on the money. It would be a last resort for us to have to cancel the show.
“We wanted to do everything in our power to go on with the show. Our sponsors stuck with it and the show will go on. These kids have worked so hard and will be able to perform on Saturday night. Those people who feel the way (we) do will come out and support it.”
Though an unintended bait and switch, it’s not the first time a pay-per-view show has went on without Chavez Jr. Top Rank was faced with a similar situation in July 2009, when an untimely rib injury suffered by the young Mexican propelled Giovani Segura to headline a pay-per-view card for the first time in his young career.
Chavez Jr was also scheduled to fight this past September, but pulled out of the fight to instead allow for a longer training camp for a December ring return. That show was scrapped altogether.
His untimely bout with the flu leaves Chavez Jr – once an ubiquitous ring presence – with just one fight in 2010, a 12-round decision over John Duddy this past June. That bout was his first since serving a six-month suspension after testing positive for a banned diuretic following his lethargic 10-round win over Troy Rowland last November.
Needless to say, it’s been a career-worst year for Chavez Jr, who can’t seem to catch a break.
Some have expressed concern over his willingness to put in the work necessary to better himself as a fighter. However, his handlers don’t seem very worried, and in fact believe he will soon bounce back from what they classify as an unlucky streak.
“I think that these things happen sometimes in boxing, in fact in any form of athletics,” Arum theorizes.
“He’s run into sh*t luck. It’s not his undoing. Anyone can get a serious fever that knocks out a fight. It’s not something you can really guard against. It’s like fate. Sh*t happens.”
For the likes of the remaining cast for this weekend’s show, sh*t will happen without Julio Cesar Chavez Jr serving the lead.
THE MODIFIED LINEUP
Along with Donaire-Sidirenko serving as the revised pay-per-view headliner, three more bouts are scheduled for the broadcast.
In the televised co-feature, lightweight titlist Humberto Soto (53-7-2, 32KO) defends against Urbano Antillon (28-1, 20KO).
As mentioned earlier, Wolak and Pinzon meet in a middleweight preliminary.
Opening the show will be hot prospect Miguel “Mikey” Garcia (23-0, 19KO), who bides his time while awaiting a shot a featherweight title as he faces former title challenger Olivier Lontchi (18-1-2, 8KO), who hasn’t fought since suffering the lone loss of his career last June against Juan Manuel Lopez.
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.
