Chavez-Vera fight Saturday at StubHub Center will be contested at 173 pounds

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera were originally supposed to fight at a catch-weight of 163 pounds Saturday at StubHub Center. Then it was moved to 165, then to 168 and now to 173 as Chavez has had difficulty holding up his end of the weight bargain.

Bob Arum, who promotes former middleweight champion Chavez, on Tuesday told reporters he would sit down with Vera’s promoter, Artie Pelullo, to discuss a new weight above 168. At Wednesday’s final news conference, Arum said we would all have to “Wait for the weight,” at Friday’s weigh-in.

However, late Wednesday night, Ronnie Shields – Vera’s trainer – told BoxingScene.com that a new agreement for 173 pounds was reached, and that Vera would be financially compensated for basically putting up with what has turned out to be a ridiculous scenario, even by boxing’s standards. The bout – which will be televised by HBO – also has been reduced from 12 rounds to 10.

Chavez (46-1-1, 32 KOs), still just 27, had trouble making the middleweight limit of 160, and now he can’t even make 168.

According to Shields, the 31-year-old Vera (23-6, 14 KOs), of Austin, Texas, weighed 167 on Wednesday, one under the limit at which he thought he was going to fight Chavez.

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