HBO’s 24/7: Chavez Jr.-Martinez series will debut on Saturday Sept. 1 at 11:45 p.m. ET/PT as it chronicles the events leading up to the Sept. 15 clash between WBC middleweight beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and RING champion Sergio Martinez

Chavez Jr.-Martinez will be broadcast on HBO Pay Per View from The Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Chavez is 46-0-1 with 32 knockouts, and Martinez is 49-2-2 (28 KOs).

In addition, HBO’s Face Off With Max Kellerman: Chavez Jr.-Martinez will debut on Aug. 25. The segment will air at 12:45 a.m. ET/PT as well as multiple times on HBO and HBO2, with broadcaster Kellerman asking questions, face-to-face, of Chavez Jr. and Martinez.

On the Chavez Jr.-Martinez undercard, WBA junior featherweight beltholder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (10-0, 8 KOs), a Miami-based Cuban, will defend against Dallas native Robert Marroquin (22-1, 15 KOs).

Also, two-time middleweight title challenger Matthew Macklin (28-4, 19 KOs), of England, takes on Haitian-born Joachim Alcine (33-2-1, 19 KOs), of Canada, and Puerto Rican junior lightweight Roman “Rocky” Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs) will face Mexico’s Miguel Beltran Jr. (27-1, 17 KOs) for the WBO’s vacant belt.

The card will also showcase light heavyweight prospect and Notre Dame graduate Mike Lee (10-0, 6 KOs), who has trained with Ronnie Shields in Houston, Texas, and has become popular due to his appearances in Subway commercials. A Chicago native, Lee is coming off a second-round knockout of Tyler Seever in Las Vegas on Aug. 4.

AUSTIN TROUT-ROBERTO GARCIA BEING CONSIDERED FOR SEPTEMBER?

WBA “regular” junior middleweight beltholder Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KOs) has informed RingTV.com that he is being considered for a Sept. 8 defense of his belt opposite Roberto Garcia (31-3, 21 KOs), of Wasleco, Texas, on the undercard of a main event between ex-IBF and WBC 140-pound titleholder Devon Alexander and IBF welterweight beltholder Randall Bailey on Showtime.

Coming off a unanimous decision over Delvin Rodriguez on Showtime in June, Trout said he has sought opportunities against IBF beltholder Cornelius Bundrage, fellow southpaw James Kirkland and former “Contender” series star Jimmy Lange.

Kirkland, said Trout, has cited recovery from shoulder surgery on his right arm as his reason for not taking the bout.

“It seems like it’s going to be on the…Bailey-Alexander card. This is still not official, and I haven’t seen a contract. But it seems like they’ve got me against Roberto Garcia,” said Trout, a native of Las Cruces, N.M., who turns 27 in September.

“Garcia seems like the frontrunner as the opponent, because K-9 said ‘no,’ and we were trying to see if James Kirkland was not too hurt to fight for the title, but Kirkland says he’s still hurt, so he turned us down.”

Garcia has won three straight fights since falling by unanimous decision to Antonio Margarito in May of 2010.

“Since Garcia fought Margarito,” said Trout, “his name could be a bigger name than mine.”

CELESTINO CABALLERO CONFIRMS SIGNING WITH TMT PROMOTIONS

WBA “regular” featherweight titleholder Celestino Caballero (36-4, 23 KOs) has confirmed reports of his signing with eight-belt, five-division titlewinner Floyd Mayweather Jr. and rapper 50 Cent, the CEOs of The Money Team (TMT Promotions).

Caballero, who turned 36 in June, added that he will now pursue a clash with WBA super champion Chris John (47-0-2, 22 KOs) of Indonesia, who has an upcoming defense against Thailand’s Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (44-0, 27 KOs) that is slated for Sept. 29 in Singapore.

“It’s the fight that we’re talking about, and that’s the fight that I want,” said Caballero. “That’s the fight that I want, it’s the fight that Floyd wants, and it’s the fight that 50 Cent wants.”

50 Cent has obtained a license in New York and received an application for one in Nevada, having already signed Australian IBF featherweight beltholder Billy Dib, super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell and former featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Former two-division titleholder Zab Judah informed ESPN.com that he met with 50 Cent, and former welterweight beltholder Andre Berto has reportedly met with the multi-millionaire rapper as well.

Photo by Chris Farina, Top Rank

Photos by Chris Cozzone, Fightwireimages.com

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]