Is the upcoming May 6 Battle of Mexico between stars Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Junior capable of pulling in a massive 100,000 live audience? We might find out. According to a news piece in The Los Angeles Times, Oscar De La Hoya and Jerry Jones engaged in a “very productive” talk yesterday about the fight taking place at Jones’ AT&T Stadium in Texas.
The frontrunner to hold the fight might now be the 100,000 capacity stadium, but the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas remains a strong possibility. Canelo has of course got one huge following – see his perceived “easy” fight with Britain’s Liam Smith last September, which drew a hefty 50,000 paying fans – while Chavez Jnr is also a big draw in Texas.
So, should this fight, one that will take place over the Cinco de Mayo Mexican holidays, take place in Texas or in Vegas? Money talks of course, and from a promotional standpoint, it’s a case of the more tickets that can be shifted, the better. But again, is this fight a big enough draw to attract 100,000 fans? Probably, but not definitely.
With a solid under-card, the May 6 event might prove a smash hit, one of the biggest fight nights of the year. All of Mexico wants to see the fight, and attention around the world is big. The number of Pay-Per-View buys the fight gets will also prove interesting and, hopefully, the May 6 fight will be followed by Canelo (assuming he wins the 164.5-pound catch-weight bout) going up against middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in September in what could be a much bigger fight still.
Canelo, 48-1-1(34) and beaten only by Floyd Mayweather, is a big favourite to beat Chavez, 50-2-1(32) but at just under 165-pounds, Alvarez will be fighting at the heaviest weight of his entire career. What will former WBC middleweight champ Chavez’ weight be on the night of the fight, and is it possible the older man will be able to out-strength Canelo?
According to The L.A Times piece, De La Hoya will likely determine the May 6 fight venue “within the next couple of weeks.”