Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs Peter Manfredo Jr: Alamodome In Play

Michael Marley reports that despite Lou DiBella floating the idea of his fighter, Peter Manfredo Jr, getting home field in Providence, R.I., for a likely September bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the Alamodome in San Antonio is the target of Chavez's promoters at Top Rank:

Lou DiBella had what is not a horrible idea. He wanted to place the Sept. 24 Peter Manfredo-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. title fight in Providence, where local boy Manfredo might stir thousands of ticket buyers to come out to the downtown Dunkin Donuts Center.

Bob Arum thinks he has a better idea and, since he’s got Side A in the bout, it looks like the bout will land in familiar fight venue San Antonio, a hotbed of fans who followed Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and now follow his son.

Manfredo does draw pretty well on a local level in Providence, and the city isn't too far out of the way of many bigger northeastern cities where Mexican fight fans in the area could come in and see the fight. But the Alamodome makes a lot more sense overall; San Antonio is a good location for any Mexican fighter to build an audience, and Chavez has fought there before on two occasions.

On April 14, 2007, Chavez was part of the undercard at the big dome when Manny Pacquiao smashed Jorge Solis in the main event. A year ago, Chavez headlined the Alamodome against John Duddy, selling the venue pretty well all things considered.

All signs point to this being the fight that will be made, although Top Rank has also now floated Giovanni Lorenzo and Nobuhiro Ishida as possible Chavez opponents for 9/24.