Daniel Jacobs v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

[Ron Swanson]

Nevada commission threatens Matchroom's promoter's license over Chavez Jr.'s skipped drug test

The executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission threatened disciplinary action against a leading boxing promoter if his company goes forward with a bout on Dec. 20 in Phoenix involving Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., after Chavez refused to submit to a request for an anti-doping test from the commission on Oct. 24.

Matchroom Sport, headed by Eddie Hearn, was planning to put a super middleweight bout between Chavez Jr., the son of the Hall of Famer Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., on Dec. 20 in Las Vegas against Daniel Jacobs in a bout that would be streamed on DAZN.

An anti-doping collection agent showed up unannounced on Oct. 24 at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California, where Chavez was training under Freddie Roach. Chavez refused to submit to the test and left the gym without providing a sample.

Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that this is not the first time Chavez has refused to submit to an anti-doping test and he has done so in other states, as well.

On Friday, Nov. 8, Matchroom announced at a news conference in Los Angeles that Jacobs-Chavez would not be in Las Vegas and instead would be in Phoenix. The federal Muhammad Ali Act does not permit fighters who are suspended in one state from competing in another.

Nevada commission executive director Bob Bennett considers Chavez’s refusal to submit to the test as an anti-doping violation and he was suspended on Oct. 30, with a hearing scheduled for Nov. 18. But because Matchroom opted to proceed with the bout in Arizona, Nevada is threatening its promoter’s license.

In a letter to Hearn that was obtained exclusively by Yahoo Sports, Bennett wrote:

“Based on Matchroom’s ongoing dealings with Chavez while he has been on suspension, it is apparent that Matchroom has violated Nevada law. Further, given that Chavez’s suspension is based on his refusal to submit to a drug test requested by the NSAC, and thus an anti-doping violation, it is apparent that the event scheduled to occur in Arizona on December 20, 2019, is in violation of the Ali Act. As such, Matchroom is promoting an event that potentially violates federal law.

“On November 7, 2019, I contacted Shaun Palmer, Matchroom’s Head of Legal and Business Affairs, and informed him of the legal issues with Matchroom’s dealings with Chavez discussed herein. I further informed him of the potential consequences should Matchroom not take corrective measures to comply with Nevada law, including that a violation of Nevada law would be considered by the NSAC when deciding whether to renew Matchroom’s promoter’s license. As of the date of this letter, the matters at issue have not been resolved.

“Given the above, grounds exist to bring disciplinary action against Matchroom before the NSAC. If Matchroom does not take the necessary action to come into compliance with Nevada law, our office will consider its options.”

Hearn confirmed to Yahoo Sports that he had received the letter, but declined to comment.

“We are in the process of reviewing it,” Hearn said.

Chavez has had a checkered anti-doping history, and tested positive twice, once for a diuretic and again for marijuana. Because he’s considered unreliable by so many within the boxing industry, Matchroom has taken the unusual step of hiring Gabriel Rosado as a backup. Rosado is training as if he’ll fight Jacobs and will be used if Chavez can’t fight for any reason.



Keith Connolly, Jacobs’ manager, said in a statement provided to Yahoo Sports that he’s just concerned that Jacobs gets to fight as scheduled on Dec. 20.

“Danny is contracted to fight December 20 on DAZN either way, so he will be focused no matter who the opponent is,” Connolly said in his statement. “He is excited to make his debut at 168 and put the entire super middleweight division on notice. We will leave all legal matters and logistics up to our promoter and Danny will remain focused on fighting.”

Yahoo Sports was unable to reach Chavez for comment.

Promoter’s licenses are highly valuable, particularly in Nevada where so many big-money matches take place, and promoters are loathe to give them up once they receive them. Hearn would not be barred from promoting anywhere else, however, simply because Nevada may choose not to license him. Other jurisdictions would be able to consider that information either when licensing him or when looking at license renewal applications.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/nev...214322713.html

I’m confused, Fenny tells me it’s the evil black man at fault. Is it possible that Fenny’s agenda is BS? I’m shocked, I never would have imagined that Fenny’s consistent agenda is BS. Oh wait, it’s been obvious for years, I knew that, everyone knew that

[Master]

Nevada judge clears way for Daniel Jacobs vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was granted a temporary restraining order by a Nevada State Court judge on Tuesday, clearing the way for him to fight Daniel Jacobs on Friday night following weeks of controversy.

Chavez and fellow former middleweight world titlist Jacobs are due to meet in a 12-round super middleweight fight at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET).

"It was very important for us, especially for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., to get to this fight against Jacobs without any restriction, so it was very important that this temporary suspension be lifted," Miguel Leff, Chavez's lawyer told ESPN. "We will have the opportunity to collect and review the information and when we have everything ready, we will see the case in court, but that will be after Friday's fight."

The bout had been in jeopardy for weeks, and former two-time world title challenger Gabriel Rosado, scheduled to box on the undercard, was on standby to step in if Chavez was not permitted to fight.

Chavez was indefinitely suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission over his failure to submit to a random drug test when a collector from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association showed up on Oct. 24 at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, where Chavez was training, and asked for a urine sample. Chavez declined to provide one.

Under World Anti-Doping Association rules, refusing to submit to a test can result in the same penalty as failing a test, so the Nevada commission suspended him. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn initially planned to hold Jacobs-Chavez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and put the date on hold with the commission. At that point, the commission, per its rules, elected to activate its enhanced drug testing protocol with VADA handling the collection.

The commission decided to use enhanced drug testing because of Chavez's past in Nevada, where he has twice failed tests for banned substances. When Nevada suspended Chavez, Hearn moved the fight to Phoenix, setting up a standoff between the Nevada commission and the Arizona Boxing & Mixed Martial Arts Commission.

Chavez (51-3-1, 33 KOs), 33, of Mexico, ultimately sued the Nevada commission and won the temporary restraining order when Nevada State Judge Jim Crockett ordered the Nevada commission to lift the suspension, at least until a date to review his case is determined.

Arizona was scheduled to discuss the issue at a commission meeting on Wednesday, but now it won't need to because Crockett, in his ruling, wrote that the Nevada commission lacked jurisdiction because Chavez was not licensed there, was not yet an applicant for a license and "did not consent to be bound by Defendants mandatory drug testing policy that was published on its website and directed only to licensees of the agency. The court further finds that Chavez subsequently passed a drug test administered by the Arizona Boxing Commission for which he holds a license."

Hearn said all he did was make the fight and was not involved in the court battle.

"We don't represent him, but they got an injunction and he's no longer suspended," Hearn said. "He's been licensed to fight in Arizona for some time, but this completely clears up the matter and we look forward to a huge show with over 10,000 [in attendance] on Friday."

Typically, when a fighter is suspended in one state other states honor the suspension, but Hearn's decision to move the fight from Las Vegas to Phoenix -- venue shopping, according to the Nevada commission and against Nevada rules and the federal Muhammad Ali Reform Act -- angered the Nevada commission to the point that Hearn is risking his ability to get a 2020 license there to promote fights.

"If someone wants to have a grudge, I mean, that won't be the first time in boxing someone had a grudge," Hearn said. "We've done everything completely by the book. The fact is, if Arizona didn't license Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., of course, we wouldn't put the fight on. That's why we've had Gabriel Rosado on the card, signed to stand in, if there was an issue. But Chavez has fought his own battle. It had nothing to do with us. We don't represent Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. We have a contract with him to take part in a fight with Daniel Jacobs, and if he's licensed, we can't just rip that contract up and say, 'Sorry mate, we're not going through with the fight.' The fact is he's gone to court and won in court, and he's no longer suspended. We're doing the fight, and we're happy to do the fight.

"We've done nothing wrong. The argument was, 'Oh, you're going to do a fight with a suspended fighter in another state.' I mean, now, that's completely, factually incorrect. So in that respect, it puts the matter to bed from a Matchroom point of view. How Chavez deals with it from here, obviously he's his own fighter, he's got his own promoter, he's got his own manager. That's not really my business. All I know is he's not suspended in any other state, and he's licensed by Arizona. Onward we go."

The Nevada commission declined to comment on the situation. Arizona commission chairman Scott Fletcher told ESPN in a statement that he was aware of the Nevada court decision to grant to the temporary restraining order and that "based on the court's ruling we are looking forward to a great event this Friday at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. Both athletes have tested negative [in prefight testing handled by Drug Free Sport] for all performance enhancing drugs, masking agents and illicit drugs and will be subject to additional tests."

Two-time middleweight titlist Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs), 32, of Brooklyn, New York, is making his super middleweight debut after losing a decision to Canelo Alvarez in their middleweight title unification fight in May.

Since losing by shutout decision to Alvarez in May 2017 in a fight in which he did not appear to even try, Chavez has fought just once. He scored a first-round knockout of journeyman Evert Bravo in a light heavyweight fight on Aug. 10 in Mexico.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/...esar-chavez-jr

[Ron Swanson]

meh, PEDs are no big deal to this crew, at least they aren’t promoting slave labor this card

[powerpuncher]

I can’t completely fault Jacobs but there is no reason he needs to take this fight. It’s a joke and Chavez is obviously dirty. It’s not even a question. I wish that Jacobs would do the right thing and not fight him.

[Fenster]

Jacobs chose Chavez and was complicit in getting around the drug shenanigans. Seems to me, the only time fighters care about drug cheats is after they've lost (it's a ready made excuse). How many pull out beforehand when there's suspicion? Charlo brothers reportedly missed tests in recent times, how is that different to Chavez jr?

I stopped giving a shit about drug cheats precisely because fans/media/fellow boxers/promoters pick and choose who are guilty/innocent depending on popularity. Joke double standards.

Matchroom pay for the drug testing on all their cards, no other promotional outfit do that in America. In fact lots of major American fights have no Vada at all - Thurman-Pac, Charlo-Hogan, Spence-Garcia had no Vada testing (Al Haymon fell out with them back in the Floyd days... allegedly).

[TitoFan]

I can’t completely fault Jacobs but there is no reason he needs to take this fight. It’s a joke and Chavez is obviously dirty. It’s not even a question. I wish that Jacobs would do the right thing and not fight him.

A couple of things. It should be a fairly entertaining fight which means nothing in the grand scheme of things. JCC Jr. is going nowhere fast, and I don't even mind his pretending it's something it's not. He's a boxing "never was." The fight should be on regular TV, which means I won't have to worry about a streaming service I don't have... so goody for me. Yeah... Jacobs has no need to take this fight, and it's lose-lose from the get-go. But oh well... let Jacobs do what he will do. If he wins convincingly he'll spin it as a great achievement and hopefully bolster his career. It won't be true but again... whatever. Ever since JCC Jr. stopped being a threat for boxing stardom, I've relaxed quite a bit on him.

[powerpuncher]

Sounds like after all of this that Jr missed weight by five pounds and now are setting the weight at 173. He is such a joke.

[Master]

Sounds like after all of this that Jr missed weight by five pounds and now are setting the weight at 173. He is such a joke.

That would be not shocking for him. What a waste of space.