Celebrity boxer Jake Paul has defeated former middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr by unanimous decision in a cruiserweight fight in California, United States.
The 28-year-old YouTube influencer-turned-boxer overcame his opponent with a judges’ score of 99-91, 97-93 and 98-92 in the 10-round fight at Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday night.
The win marks Paul’s triumphant return to the ring seven months after his blockbuster fight against 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
Chavez Jr, 39, is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion who has not held a major boxing title in 13 years and has fought just once in the last three and a half years. He has also had some well-documented personal problems over the last few years.
Paul, who gained fame as a social media star on YouTube and became a boxer, now has a six-fight winning streak and a 12-1 record with seven knockouts (KOs).
‘I want to be world champion’
Following the win, Paul challenged a number of current and former WBC champions to a fight.
“I want tougher fighters, I want to be world champion,” he told streaming service DAZN in the ring.
He called on Zurdo Ramirez, Badou Jack, Anthony Joshua, Gervonta Davis and Tommy Fury to “stop running”.
However, Chavez Jr said his conqueror was a “good fighter” but was not ready to face the list of champions he had named.
“He is strong, [he is a] good boxer [but] I don’t think he’s ready for champions,” the Mexican said.
Paul, who was set to face Canelo Alvarez until the latter signed a lucrative four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season, said Alvarez was “ducking” the fight.
In a video posted to his social media account, Paul showed what he said was a contract signed by himself and Alvarez for a fight to be held in Las Vegas on May 3.
“The truth is, you [ Alvarez ] could be bought,” Paul said at the time. “You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing, shady characters are paying you hundreds of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you.”
Alvarez, a Mexican boxing superstar, unified boxing’s super-middleweight world titles after a pedestrian but unanimous points win over IBF champion William Scull in Riyadh on May 3 .
Paul vs Chavez Jr: Contrasting fortunes
The 28-year-old is one of the sport’s top attractions despite not having a traditional fighting pedigree through a boxing association. Paul has made at least $60m since starting his boxing career, according to multiple sources.
His fight last November with Tyson, which Paul won in an eight-round decision, peaked at a staggering 64 million concurrent streams on Netflix.
Meanwhile, Chavez Jr – with a record of (54-7-1, 34 KOs) – last held a major boxing world title in 2012 and has had a difficult time inside and outside the ring in recent years.
In November 2021, his shock defeat by a split decision to 46-year-old former UFC fighter Anderson Silva in a crossover boxing match was undoubtedly the lowest – and most embarrassing – point of his professional boxing career. Coincidentally, Paul beat Silva in a fight last year.
The Mexican’s personal issues have included a lack of motivation, a repeated failure to make weight for fights, alcohol and drug addiction, an arrest for illegal possession of a firearm in his Los Angeles home and a failed drug test. At the launch of the Paul-Chavez fight in May at The Avalon in Hollywood, Paul mocked Chavez’s addiction problems as well as his “lack of mentality”.
Reports say that Paul has a chance of entering the WBC’s rankings with the win.
“The WBC ratings committee has been following Jake Paul’s career,” ESPN reported WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman as saying before the fight.
“If he defeats Chavez, and depending on how the fight plays out, the committee will make the decision. It’s very likely [Paul will be ranked] if he wins convincingly.”
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