Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. returns to UTEP
Big news coming out of UTEP Friday.
Former middleweight champion of the world Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be boxing at the Don Haskins Center in July. The bout will be televised by Showtime and it’s already creating a buzz.
Anyone in El Paso who is a fan or that’s involved in boxing is telling ABC-7 the fight is good for so many reasons: It puts El Paso on the map, brings in a lot of money and inspires up and coming boxers.
“El Paso is a fight town. This city loves boxing they are enthusiastic about it they are supportive of it,” said Fight Incorporated President, Rico Velez.
Fight Incorporated is an El Paso based fight promotions organization.
Velez says a fight on this scale is a huge boost for boxing in the borderland.
“Anytime there’s a champion boxer coming into town that has a title or the type of backing that Julio Cesar Chavez has to you get exited. You want to go to those events because those folks are going to put on a full scale show. Showtime doesn’t play around,” said Velez.
Velez tells ABC-7 big name boxers not only put El Paso on the boxing map but they inspire young up and coming talent that could be the next box office brawlers
“They look at those fighters and think ‘I train for that’, ‘I either want to be as good as him or as great as him,” said Velez.
He says aside from people paying big bucks to watch a star-studded event, staff and crew members that can be in the hundreds also boost the local economy.
“They feed them, they have to go out to eat they have to drive, and they need a place to train so all that is money generated,” said Velez.
Velez says for fans it isn’t just about a fight it’s about capture a memorable moment in time.
“That’s history, you want to be a part of it. You want to know I was there I saw that,” said Velez
Velez is also promoting a boxing card Saturday night featuring six fights and he’s trying something new by holding it at the Abraham Chavez Theater.
The big fight with Chavez Jr. will be July 18 at the Don Haskins.
Tickets range from $25 to $200.
