t’s hard to resist the potential riches of Las Vegas for many, including those charged with staging the Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight.
Golden Boy Promotions announced Friday that the anticipated showdown between Mexico’s two most popular fighters will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas rather than Jerry Jones’ massive AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“I love fighting in Las Vegas, where the most important fights have historically been, and I’m very happy to be back at the T-Mobile Arena for this huge event on Cinco de Mayo weekend,” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 knockouts) said in a prepared statement. “I know that people from all over the world … will attend to witness a great show.”
Chavez (50-2-1, 32 knockouts) called Las Vegas “the home of boxing.”
The non-title bout will be fought at a 164.5-pound catch-weight after Alvarez knocked out Amir Khan in a 155-pound catch-weight bout at T-Mobile Arena in May 2016, then won the World Boxing Organization light-middleweight belt by knocking out Liam Smith in the ninth round at AT&T Stadium.
Jones made a substantial offer to Golden Boy Promotions’ Chairman Oscar De La Hoya for the Chavez fight, with capacity for 100,000 fans — a spectacle leading to Alvarez’s promised September date against unbeaten, three-belt middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Instead, richer seat pricing inside 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena and the tradition of big fights in Las Vegas won out.
“When my team and I talked about where to hold what will be the biggest fight of the first half of the year, we kept coming back to Las Vegas,” De La Hoya said in a prepared statement. “The biggest fights of the last 30-plus years have taken place in Vegas, and it is a natural home for this enormous event.”
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