By Bill Phanco: The Nevada State Athletic Commission came down with by far their biggest fine ever given to a fighter by fining former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. $900,000 and giving him a 9 month suspension for him testing positive for marijuana for his last fight in September against Sergio Martinez.
The suspension will end on June 15th, and his promoter Bob Arum plans on getting him back in the ring on June 16th, which is a Sunday. That date will likely change because it’s doubtful that Arum will want Chavez Jr. fighting on a Sunday. The $900 K comes out to almost one-third of Chavez Jr’s $3 million he received for the fight with Martinez.
Arum is talking about appealing the fine because it’s so far ahead of any previous fines handed down that it doesn’t make sense. In the meantime, Arum plans on having Chavez Jr. fight outside of Las Vegas for his next fight, and he’s talking about staging it in Texas or Mexico.
It’ll be interesting to see if Arum has Chavez Jr. fighting in Las Vegas in the future. If not, then the heavy fine handed down by the Nevada Commission could end up being a move that shoots their state in the foot because Chavez Jr. brought a lot of money to Nevada for the Martinez fight by attracting fans to Nevada to come see him fight.
The Commission came down hard on Chavez Jr. because he previously tested positive for a banned drug in 2009, so this was his second offense. Marijuana, however, is recreational drug and not used for performance enhancement, which is why the Commission perhaps should have given Chavez Jr. a lesser fine.
Arum wants Chavez Jr. to fight in June and then look to face Sergio Martinez in a rematch this September.