Top Rank fighters Julio Cesar Chavez (41-0-1, 30 KOs) and Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KOs) officially announced their December 4 main event matchup with a press conference in Anaheim, California.
The bout headlines a Top Rank PPV dubbed “In Harm Way,” a move that happened after Miguel Cotto decided not to face Chavez and sit out the rest of year. HBO was interested in airing Chavez-Cotto, but declined to keep a TV date for Chavez after Cotto’s decision.
Chavez has been criticized by many for amassing a padded record. In his last bout, he broke that mold with a strong showing and clear decision win against tough contender John Duddy. In Gomez, Chavez sees another rugged fighter and expects the fans to witness a great fight.
“I have followed his career” said Chávez Jr. stated at the press conference. “I know he’s a great fighter with a lot of experience and a lot of heart. I’m very happy to be the main event on this card, along side great champions and future champions. The real winners on the night of the fight are going to be the fans.”
Alfonso Gomez’s most well-known fights are victories over badly faded versions of Arturo Gatti and Jose Luis Castillo. His biggest step up in class was a 2008 welterweight fight against Miguel Cotto, which saw Gomez dominated and stopped after several knockdowns.
Gomez is moving up to junior middleweight to face a noticeably larger Chavez. But Gomez showed no lack of confidence, as he performed a battle rap over Lil Wayne’s “Gonorrhea.”
The undercard features WBC lightweight titlist Humberto Soto vs. Urbano Antillion, and Nonito Donaire vs. Volodymyr Sydorenko.
Tickets go on sale this Friday (October 8 ) with a price range of $30-$200 at Ticketmaster. The fight card also airs live on PPV starting at 9PM on December 4.
******************************************************
Great, yet another PPV. It would have been nice to see Chavez-Cotto in December, but I’m certain we’ll have that bout in early 2011. In the meantime, Chavez gets a stay busy bout against a fighter he’ll outweigh considerably on fight night. Gomez will come to fight, but he’ll have quite the uphill battle trying to hurt Chavez with his punches. And since Gomez likes to mix it up on the inside, the odds aren’t there that’ll he’ll be able to outbox Chavez.
The big disappointment on this card I see is Nonito Donaire. We’re about three years removed from his sensational knockout over Vic Darchinyan, and Donaire’s career has basically floundered with no further matchups against elite fighters. He was the first fighter asked to participate in Showtime’s upcoming bantamweight tournament (which includes Vic Darchinyan, Abner Mares, Joseph Agbeko, and Yonnhy Perez). But his promoter Bob Arum, citing the format and purse amount, declined to let him participate.
Donaire’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, is on record stating if his fighter wins on December 4, he will face Fernando Montiel next. That would be a great matchup and give the bantamweight tournament winner their next logical opponent. It makes too much sense, so we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that nobody starts fussing over purse splits and other matters.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 