De La Hoya: Canelo-Chavez Jr. just bet purses

boxingnews24.com

By Jeff Aranow: Oscar De La Hoya, the head honcho at Golden Boy Promotions, says his fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and his opponent Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. bet their fight purses for their May 6 fight on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Apparently, Canelo (48-1-1, 34 KOs) got upset with Chavez Jr. predicting an 8th round knockout of him on May 6. Canelo also took issue with Chavez Jr. pointing out that he’s not fought anyone.

As far as the betting of purses between Canelo and Chavez Jr, it’s highly unlikely that the loser of the fight will give the winner their purse. It’s just not realistic. It sounds sensational when you hear fighters talking about betting their purse, but I never hear of them actually giving their purse away. It’s more of a publicity angle than anything.

Things just got real! @Canelo and @jcchavezjr1 just bet their purse! @@despieriamerica #Canelo-Chavez Jr,” said De La Hoya on his Twitter.

Instead of betting purses, Chavez Jr. should be angling to try and get Canelo to agree that he’ll give him a rematch straightaway with a 50-50 purse split if he beats him. That would be something a little more realistic than the betting of the purses. Chavez Jr. could then hound Canelo if he chooses not to fight him again.

“I saw him in a video saying that I have no fought with anyone,” said Canelo via Univision Despierta America TV program. “If he is so sure he is going to win the fight with me, that he is going to knock me out in eight rounds, I bet his purse that he does not beat me,” said Canelo.

There’s already a $1 million per pound weight penalty in place for the fight for either fight if they come in over the 164 ½ pound catch-weight limit. The weight penalty appears to be aimed more at Chavez Jr., as he’s had problems making weight for his fights since he moved up to super middleweight.

I Canelo loses to Chavez Jr., it might end up hurting his bottom line in terms of future PPV sales on HBO. Losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. was something that didn’t really hurt Canelo’s boxing career because he was facing what the fans considered the best fighter in the sport. But if Canelo gets beaten by Chavez Jr. on May 6, then that really could take a big bite out of the red-haired star’s future earnings.

Boxing fans might not want to keep paying to see Canelo fight guys like Liam Smith and Amir Khan on HBO PPV if he can’t beat Chavez Jr. A loss for Canelo against Chavez Jr. would put him in a situation where he would not only need to avenge the loss to bring back his boxing fans, who might jump ship in droves, but he might also need to finally step up and fight Gennady Golovkin. Taking a loss is hard on a fighter’s career, especially when their PPV numbers are already dropping like we’ve been seeing with Canelo.

Canelo has obviously fought some top guys in Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jr., but the problem is, Canelo appeared to lose both fights. Canelo’s other fights against top guys have been against old timers or guys that fight rarely like 36-year-old Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, who was in his 40s when he fought Canelo, and guys like Liam Smith.