Dodger Stadium Could be Julio Chavez Jr.'s Ravine
By Steve Kim, MaxBoxing (March 18, 2011) Special to Doghouse Boxing
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This much is for sure; when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. faces Sebastian Zbik for the WBC version of the middleweight title, he will be fighting somewhere in the Los Angeles area on June 4th. The only question is just where this card will take place.

"It’s one of two venues," said promoter Bob Arum on Thursday afternoon. "It’s Staples Center or Dodger Stadium."

The Staples Center has been a regular host to boxing throughout the past decade; Dodger Stadium hasn’t hosted a fight card in decades. Back in 2008 as Antonio Margarito was riding high in the aftermath of his victory over Miguel Cotto that July, Arum had proposed the idea of the “Tijuana Tornado” coming to the home of the Dodgers for his next bout. However, those talks produced nothing but a pop fly that didn’t get out of the infield.

This time, they at least got in scoring position.

Arum described the talks with the Dodger brass as "excellent," adding, "Maybe it was the people we met with. They seemed more authoritative and more knowledgeable. The people last time didn’t seem to know anything. These people grasped everything; this guy who’s their general counsel and in charge of all these types of events, Sam Hernandez, he understood everything."

The set-up would be identical to the one Top Rank utilized at Yankee Stadium last summer for the bout between Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman "because we’re in the baseball season. The ideal place is to have the ring between home plate and second base but you can’t do that during the season. So the next best thing is to do it like Yankee Stadium, where you do it in right-centerfield," said Arum.

Much of this card, where the main event will be televised by HBO, will focus on the life and career of Junior’s father, who gets inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame the following week in Canastota, New York.

Arum explained, "It would be a tribute to Chavez Sr. and what we’re going to have is stuff from his career, where he won his first title in L.A., that kind of thing. And then we’re going to load the show up with Mexicans stars like Rafael Marquez, who is planning to be on the card." (No word if Frank versus Jamie McCourt will be on the undercard)

As for when the final decision will come, Arum said, "Todd [duBoef] met with the Staples Center and [COO/CFO for AEG] Dan Beckerman yesterday (Wednesday) and we met on Tuesday with the Dodgers. So we’re going to give it till sometime early next week when we hear back from both of them."

MARAVILLA

Nothing has been decided or finalized but in talking to some folks around the situation, I get the sense that if Sergio Martinez and his reps had their way, he will face Peter Manfredo Jr. in July. The bottom line is that “Maravilla” has faced a pretty stout gauntlet and would like a bit of a come-down fight. What’s really appealing about Manfredo is that not only does he bring a fan-friendly style but if this promotion were to take place at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island (where Manfredo happens to work as a day laborer), it would draw a significant crowd.

And yeah, the overwhelming majority of fans would be there to root for Manfredo but Martinez is a guy who deserves to fight in front of a bigger audience, isn’t he?

Don’t be surprised if there is an attempt to make the rematch between Andy Lee and Brian Vera as the co-feature.

MAY-DAY?

As of now, the anticipated “Super Six” bout between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson is scheduled to take place on May 21st but I’ve talked to a couple of sources who say that there is a chance that this fight could be pushed back just a bit. Not only are they having problems securing a venue but Showtime isn’t too keen on going up against the rematch between WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins on HBO from Montreal.

As for possible venues, there are several spots in Las Vegas being discussed and even Montreal.

FRIDAY FLURRIES

In addition to the return of Vanes Martirosyan (he’s alive!) on the undercard of Lucian Bute-Brian Magee this Saturday night, Colin Fish McFadden, who is managed by Cameron Dunkin, makes his professional debut...Beibut Shumenov has filed suit in Las Vegas to get out of his promotional pact with Goossen Tutor. It was just last April at the Home Depot Center before the Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron fight when a press conference announced this union...The April 8th edition of “ShoBox” will be a tripleheader. The main event will have super middleweights Marcus Johnson and Dyah Davis. Welterweights Willie Nelson and Vincent Arroyo will do battle and junior welters Danny O’Connor and Gabriel Bracero will hook up...If Kyrie Irving is anything close to his usual self, I think it’s going to be awfully tough to beat Duke in the tourney...Was the Morehead State upset a worse moment for Rick Pitino than that little incident at that Italian restaurant a few years ago?....

I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com and I tweet at www.Twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.

* Special Thanks To MaxBoxing.

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