Chavez Jr misses weight in latest controversy for Friday

As if the controversial Daniel Jacobs – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. needed anymore soap opera chapters, Thursday comes word that Chavez, Jr. badly missed the 168 lb. super middleweight limit at the morning weigh-in.

Various boxing media reported that Chavez weighed 172.7 lb. or nearly 5 lb. over the limit for the Friday night showdown with the former IBF middleweight champion Jacobs:

Source: Daniel Jacobs weighed under 168-pound limit today. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was over 173. Following negotiations between sides, fight will go forward at 173 pounds, with a considerable financial penalty paid from JCC Jr. to Jacobs. @ChavaESPN first with 173-pound agreement

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) December 19, 2019

Later on Thursday morning in Arizona, Matchroom Boxing announced that Jacobs had accepted a new weight limit for Chavez of 173 lb. and reportedly, Chavez will be docked a substantial portion of his purse but the main event will go on as scheduled.

Prior to the official #JacobsChavezJr weigh in, the parties agreed to change the weight limit to 173lbs. Both @DanielJacobsTKO and @jcchavezjr1 weighed inside the limit, and we have a fight. Ceremonial weigh in at 1pm MST ⚖️

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 19, 2019

The fight is a significant one for Matchroom and the DAZN streaming service show, but had to be moved from Nevada to Arizona, because of a pre-fight drug testing controversy with Chavez, Jr.

The son of the legendary Mexican Hall of Fame fighter evaded a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) drug tester in October at his California gym.

As we have written about previously, that led the Nevada State athletic commission to temporarily suspend Chavez, Jr. pending a hearing. This as they consider a “missed or skipped” test, to be a positive test.

They held that hearing and Chavez Jr never showed to explain himself. So, they extended the suspension into December and that prompted Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, to strike a deal with the downtown Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix, where the Suns play NBA basketball. The fight reportedly has sold over 10,000 tickets and climbing for Friday night.

Hear more on the controversy and fallout in Phoenix from Marquis Johns of BigFightWeekend.com, Ryan O’Hara of FightNights.com and Antione Williams of “GOAT Boxing Promotions” in Houston by clicking below:

Chavez, Jr. just won an appeal for a temporary restraining order on Tuesday in a Las Vegas court, to keep him eligible to be licensed to fight in Arizona for Saturday night.

Super middleweight contender Gabriel Rosado, who is scheduled to fight a 10-round bout on the undercard, has been waiting in the wings as the possible Jacobs opponent due to the controversies. However Matchroom made it clear that Jacobs has agreed to fight Chavez at the higher “catchweight” of 173 lb. on Saturday night.

While Chavez, who was previously WBC Middleweight champ from 2010-12, has the name recognition and is a drawing card, especially with Mexican and Mexican-American fanbases like in Phoenix, there is much more at stake for Jacobs.

He lost his IBF Middleweight championship to Canelo Alvarez in May on a 12-round decision. Jacobs would love nothing more to win this fight, and then have the opportunity at a potential Canelo rematch or perhaps also rematch Gennady Golovkin who decision Jacobs in March of 2018.