By James Slater – First original foe Alfonso Gomez pulled out of this Saturday night’s scheduled clash with unbeaten Son Of The Legend, Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, and now Chavez himself has been forced to pull out of his fight with late replacement Pawel Wolak. Chavez has been battling a bad case of the flu, and after much deliberation it was decided yesterday that the Chavez-Wolak fight would be called off for a second time (the two were originally supposed to fight last September, with Chavez pulling out of that date due to promotional issues)..
ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael has reported how promoter Bob Arum will now elevate the Nonito Donaire Vs. Wladimir Sidorenko clash (not a bad fight at all) to main event status, and the Top Rank boss told him the remainder of the card – featuring fighters Humberto Soto, Urbano Antillon and Olivier Lontchi in action – will go ahead as normal.
Reportedly, Chavez Junior woke up with a temperature of 103 yesterday morning, and that all concerned knew there was no way he could fight. Of course, Chavez will no doubt be disappointed himself, as well as his fans, but spare a thought for Wolak right now. Twice the Polish tough guy who lives in New York has seen his big chance fall through. What especially annoys the 29-year-old with the 27-1(17) pro record is the fact that he is convinced he has the beating of Chavez. Unless the fight can be re-scheduled for a third time when Chavez is better (unlikely that it will be), Wolak will miss out completely.
At least “The Raging Bull” will earn himself a paycheque on Saturday, as Arum has bumped him down to the Saturday night under-card for a fight with decent Mexican Jose Pinzon – an 18-1-1(12) fighter who has won his last three outings.
As for Chavez, there is no word yet on who or when he will fight next. But with promoters of Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez reportedly “in talks” for the two to face one another in what would be a huge fight, Chavez Junior may be out of luck with regards to the fight he looked all set for against the Puerto Rican star.
24-year-old Chavez has had a largely frustrating year all round; having just one bout in 2010. Julio Junior, who looked so vastly improved having worked with new trainer Freddie Roach, outboxed the tough John Duddy back in June.