UT Cancels The Chavez Fight in El Paso

In what was the most disappointing news in El Paso in quite some time, the UT System cancelled the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Andy Lee fight at the Sun Bowl.

The reason that the UT System gave for the cancellation of the bout at the Sun Bowl was that it is "not the appropriate venue." The UT System believes that the Sun Bowl is an unsafe place for the fight to occur. What a slap in the face for the city of El Paso!

We continue to get a bad rap because of our wonderful sister city Juarez. It is simple, El Paso may be one of the safest cities in America, but it is irrelevant because guilt by association comes into play here. Stray bullets coming across the border from Juarez doesn't help our case to convince people that El Paso is such a safe place, even though local resident know that it is.

The city of El Paso loses out on a tremendous opportunity to not only show that it is more than capable of hosting such a big venue, but also on the economic impact it would have had on the city. Is it fair? Of course not, but life is never really fair, we all know that. Juarez used to be a great place to visit, now it is our misfortune to be so close to such a dangerous place.

The worst part about this whole ordeal is that people will hesitate to bring big sporting events to El Paso in the future. Who knows how long it will take for the violence to subside in Juarez, it could be years. Another issue that this has brought up is the fact that Top Rank Boxing Promoter Bob Arum will certainly be hesitant about bringing another mega fight to El Paso in the future in fear that it will be cancelled again.

The biggest problem I have with the UT System's decision is that it was not made sooner. Why wait until the day of the press conference, and a few days before tickets officially go on sale to burst everyone's bubble? This was a poor decision by the UT System, and will certainly continue to be heavily criticized.

If Top Rank Boxing, HBO, and Bob Arum all felt it was safe to have this fight in El Paso, then their feelings speak volumes and therefore this city should have hosted this momentous event. The possible replacement locations for the bout are San Antonio and Houston. It will be difficult for anyone to convince me that either one of those cities are safer than El Paso. I feel bad for the city of El Paso and its residents, they deserved to have this spectacular event take place here.