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March 1: Julio Chavez Jr.-Bryan Vera II, Orlando Salido-Vasyl Lomachenko

Fighters Network
13
Jan

chavez vs vera_8

Contracts have been signed for a 168-pound rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera on March 1 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told RingTV.com.

Vera, whose home state is Texas, lost a controversial 10-round unanimous decision to Chavez in September. That bout took place in California at a 173-pound catchweight because Chavez was not able to make the originally contracted weight.

Chavez Jr. will be fined $250,000 of his purse if he fails to make weight against Vera this time, Arum and Vera's promoter, Artie Pelullo, told ESPN.com.



"Chavez has to redeem himself from his last performance, and the nonsense about not making weight, and all of that," said Arum, who has scheduled a press conference for Thursday at The Alamodome. "So it will be a test for Chavez about his will, and about how serious he is about his boxing career."

According to CompuBox, Vera had a 176-125 advantage in overall punches landed, as well as winning 109-98 in power shots compared to Chavez, who was awarded the decision by scores of 96-94, 97-93 and 98-92 by Carla Caiz, Marty Denkin and Gwen Adair, respectively.

In a poll of 59 media members, 53 scored the bout in favor of Vera, with the remaining six calling it a draw. In its round-by-round, RingTV.com scored the fight for Vera, 97-93.

Click here for RingTV.com’s Chavez-Vera round-by-round.

The undercard bout was "done" in December, and will feature WBO featherweight titleholder Orlando Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs) defending against Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO).

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lomachenko fought his pro debut in October and scored two body-shot knockdowns during a fourth-round stoppage of Jose Luis Ramirez in a scheduled 10-rounder.

Lomachenko hopes to dethrone Salido, 33, who won the vacant belt by seventh-round knockout of Puerto Rican featherweight contender Orlando Cruz on the same card as Lomachenko-Ramirez.

"They're calling it the undercard, but for me, it's the fight," said Arum. "I can't wait to see that fight, because for me, historically, the fight between Salido and Lomachenko is monstrous.

"Because for this guy to take on somebody like Salido in his second professional fight, when nobody knows whether he can go the distance? Salido is a fighter that keeps fighting into the later rounds and never seems to weaken. So, Lomachenko has his work cut out for him."

 

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

 

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