Canelo Alvarez isn't fighting Gennady Golovkin anytime soon, but Mexican fight fans may have just gotten the next best thing: an all-out battle against fellow countryman Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at Cinco de Mayo weekend.
That fight, reported by ESPN, will be contested on May 6 during Cinco De Mayo weekend, which is a major date for booking big boxing matches involving the country's best boxers. It will be broadcast on HBO pay-per-view on a venue to be determined, but likely in Las Vegas since the Nevada State Athletic Commission granted permission for the fight to be made at the T-Mobile Arena on that date.
The notable thing about this fight is the fact that it will be contested at a 164.5-pound catchweight. Canelo, who is a former middleweight world champion, has never fought anywhere near that weight as a professional, only fighting as high as 155 pounds in his last five fights. Chavez is also a former world champion at 160 pounds, but has been boxing at 167.5 pounds or heavier for his past five fights dating to 2013.
Canelo is the WBO light middleweight champion, and was named the mandatory challenger to WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders' title. A megafight between Canelo and unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin had been held off until at least September 2017.
Chavez has only fought once since the summer of 2015, defeating Dominik Britsch via unanimous decision in his last fight.
