“Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are.” – self-help author Robert Collier
In what has been speculated for quite some time within the boxing community, it was confirmed late Monday evening that former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. signed with boxing manager and advisor Al Haymon.
Although much effort was made by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum to ink two marquee names, Gennady Golovkin and Carl Froch, opposite the Mexican born fighter in high dollar guarantees, Julio Junior insists that he is no longer under contract with Top Rank, Inc., and is merely implementing his free agent status.
In a statement released to “Yahoo! Sports”, the 28 year old fighter reinforces his current position and claims he will be back in the ring during the first quarter of 2015.
“I want to give all my fans an update on my boxing future,” proclaims Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. “I had a great meeting on Friday with my team: My lawyer Howard Weitzman, my manager Al Haymon and Billy Keane. They have begun the process of setting up my next fight, which will occur in early 2015.”
“We are looking at a number of top opponents because I only want to fight the best moving forward. The details of my next fight will be finalized in the very near future. So stay tuned. I want to thank all my fans for their support and I can’t wait to get back to fighting. You’ll be seeing a lot of me in the ring in 2015.”
According to Mr. Arum, Chavez has one fight remaining on his existing contract with the heralded promotional organization.
“We want the court to declare that we have one more fight with Chavez,” the 82 year old attorney turned fight promoter recently told ‘Yahoo! Sports’. “In other words, we’re in court as it stands at this time. Now we’re going to bring action against Haymon and so forth for interfering with our contract.”
This wouldn’t be the first time a boxing promoter accused the renowned advisor for interference.
In a lawsuit filed by Kathy Duva earlier this year, the Main Events leader named Showtime, Golden Boy, Adonis Stevenson, promoter Yvon Michel, and advisor Al Haymon for interfering with an already existing fight deal set in place by HBO, Main Events, and GYM to stage a highly anticipated Light Heavyweight unification contest between Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson.
“There are rules. There is a reason why there are rules,” proclaimed the New Jersey based fight promoter. “We had the biggest fight of the year made, and somebody with an agenda [Haymon] that has nothing to do with me or my company tore it apart for no reason. I have to stand up for myself and for my fighter. That’s what happens when the big guy comes in and tries to squeeze you out.”
Although Duva’s lawsuit was eventually dropped upon realization of this Saturday’s match-up between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev, it will be interesting to see whether or not Arum’s suit against Chavez will find a similar conclusion.
But until the dispute is legally resolved, the enigmatic Super Middleweight will join Mikey Garcia and Andre Ward on the boxing shelf while other fighters reap the benefit of their respective absence. Despite targeting long term benefits with the decision to test the free agent market, all three of the aforementioned fighters currently run the risk of possibly damaging their individual popularity and relevance in the boxing world.
Three decade fight trainer and boxing manager James Gogue expounds on this potentially detrimental trend within the boxing community.
“Fans don’t care about this and really don’t want to hear about it,” claims the knowledgeable boxing proponent. “While these guys are standing their ground, they’re potentially hurting their careers by staying inactive and out of the public consciousness.”
“They would be wise to remember that the business of boxing doesn’t rely on any one prizefighter and will continue to move forward with or without their involvement.”
Are these talented prizefighters ultimately harming their respective careers by pursuing “greener pastures”?
All will be revealed in time.
