By Mark Vester
According to promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, if Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (38-0, 29KOs) defeats Carlos Nascimento on the March 28 Latin Fury pay-per-view from Tijuana, Mexico, and John Duddy (25-0, 17KOs) overcomes Matt Vanda on February 21 in New York’s Madison Square Garden - the two fighters could collide in the summer.
“Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fights again on March 28 in Tijuana and that show will be seen on pay-per-view and it will have various title fights on the card. If Julio is successful there and John is successful, they might be fighting as early as this summer. Now that's a major, major fight,” Arum said.
Duddy is taking on Vanda, who fought Julio Jr. twice in 2008. The first time Vanda came close to beating Chavez, but lost by way of a split-decision. Chavez dominated the rematch.
It’s pretty simple, Duddy’s bout against Vanda is nothing short of an audition for a fight with Chavez. In this audition, Duddy has to look bad - not good. If Duddy struggles with Vanda and has problems - expect a fight with Chavez to be made. If Duddy looks good and puts Vanda away with few issues - expect Arum to match him against another fighter in the Top Rank stable - and he already has two in mind.
“There is a possible fight with Yuri Foreman, which would sell out Madison Square Garden. Foreman is a top local fighter [in New York] who is also undefeated. A matchup with him and John would be tremendous. Kelly defends his title [on 2/21] and if he wins - wouldn’t it be spectacular to have kelly's next title defense against John in Madison Square Garden,” Arum said.
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