Chavez Jr. on September 17, announced that he would fight at the full super middleweight limit of 168 pounds against former WBC champion Anthony Dirrell (30-1-1, 24 KOs) at The Forum in Los Angeles, California on November 11, 2017. Three days later, Dirrell spoke out on his local Michigan paper, Mlive, saying "Don't believe that," immediately denying that he had agreed to fight Chavez Jr. On October 10, trainer Nacho Beristain stated that Chavez would return in December 2017. On October 24, Beristain revealed that he could not get in touch with Chavez Jr. regarding their training camp. A new date of December 16 was considered for his new return date to the ring. Beristain stated that Chavez was returning to his hold training habits. He told ESPN Deportes that if he did not hear from Chavez in the next 10 days, he would not be working his corner. On November 14, fellow Mexican Alfredo Angulo (24-6, 20 KOs) was named as a possible opponent as both boxers being advised by Al Haymon. Chavez told ESPN Deportes that he had hoped to reach an agreement with Beristain to work his corner.