Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and former middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. have reached a settlement in their dispute over Chavez's promotional contract with the company.
Arum told ESPN.com on Thursday that a settlement was reached a couple of weeks ago.
"A settlement has been concluded which I believe is satisfactory to all parties," said Arum, who declined to specify how much money Top Rank was paid to settle. "When we do something like that, we don't trumpet it, but we got it done a couple of weeks ago. I'm not going to tell you [the terms], but it was very satisfactory."
I asked Arum about the case because I have begun receiving promotional material from Showtime about Chavez's light heavyweight bout against Andrzej Fonfara (26-3, 15KOs), which is scheduled for April 18 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, and it made me wonder what had become of Arum's attempt to stop the fight.
Arum, who was suing Chavez (48-1-1, 32 KOs) in Nevada state court, had been threatening to seek an injunction to try to hold up the bout.
The crux of the dispute was Chavez's claim that his promotional contract with Top Rank had expired, while Arum, who has promoted Chavez for his entire career, claimed Chavez owed Top Rank one more bout under their deal.
"We only had one more fight with him," Arum said. "If we had more we wouldn't have been willing to [settle]. But to hold on for one more fight and litigate didn't make sense, so we arrived at a mutual settlement. Our lawyer worked it out with Chavez's lawyer."
Chavez's relationship with Top Rank seemed doomed once he signed with adviser Al Haymon, Arum's fierce rival. They do not do business together with one exception -- the May 2 megafight between Haymon-represented Floyd Mayweather and Top Rank-promoted Manny Pacquiao.
Chavez will be returning from a 13-month layoff for the fight against Fonfara, his first with Haymon, first on Showtime and first with trainer Joe Goossen.