He wont be fighting Miguel Cotto, but popular Middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be in the ring on December 4 as he will take on former world title challenger Alfonso Gomez as part of a Top Rank Pay Per View card in Anaheim, Californina, that according to Dan Rafael of espn.com
• Former flyweight titlist Nonito Donaire (24-1, 16 KOs), a top-10 pound-for-pound fighter, will move up from junior bantamweight to face former bantamweight titlist Wladimir Sidorenko (22-2-2, 7 KOs) for a vacant interim belt.
• Lightweight titlist Humberto Soto (53-7-2, 32 KOs) will make his third defense against Urbano Antillon (28-1, 20 KOs) in a bout that had been slated to take place in May but was called off when Soto elected to take a different fight.
• Lightweight contender Brandon Rios (25-0-1, 18 KOs), coming off a breakout performance in which stormed past favored Anthony Peterson for a dominant seventh-round disqualification win on Sept. 11 in his HBO debut, will face an opponent to be determined.
“I think it’s a nice card. I like that card. It should be a fun show.” Said Top Rank boss Bob Arum , adding that the Honda Center will be configured for a crowd of about 10,000. “We have priced the tickets very reasonably — $200, $100, $50 and $30 — so we’re expecting a good crowd.”
“I’m excited to fight someone who has a good resume like Sidorenko, who’s been champion,” Donaire said. “I’m excited to fight somebody at this level rather than the guys I’ve been fighting. It’s good to be challenged and it makes me better. I’m facing a guy who knows how to win and is experienced. The challenge is there for me. Sidorenko is not a joke.”
Should Donaire prove victorious he would be in line to fight Fernando Montiel in early 2011
If Soto and Rios each win their bouts, Arum said he plans to match them in the first quarter of next year.
“That’s the idea, and maybe we could do Rios and Antillon, too, if Antillon wins,” Arum said. “We’ll try to make the fight for HBO or Showtime.”
“Rios is a lovely kid and now he’s a hard-working guy,” Arum said. “I think he’s going to go far and I’d love to give him a chance to fight for a world title on one of the premium networks.”
“Chavez is taking the fight seriously,” Arum said. “He’s going to spar with Manny and it’s perfect. Chavez is bigger than Manny, but Chavez is getting ready for a smaller guy [Gomez] and Manny is getting ready for a bigger guy [Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13]. Chavez being in the Philippines sparring with Manny will help sell both fights.”
One of the fighters who did not make the cut for the pay-per-view, junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan, will still get a televised opportunity. Arum said he plans to have Martirosyan fight in his hometown of Glendale, Calif., in the headline fight on a Fox Sports “Top Rank Live” card Dec. 18, possibly against Pawel Wolak — who had been in the running to face Chavez.
“We’ll save people from having to watch Bernard Hopkins’ fight that same night,” Arum cracked, taking a dig at Hopkins’ light heavyweight title challenge to Jean Pascal, which is scheduled the same day on Showtime PPV.
