Win over Chávez makes Jake Paul feel like a real fighter and not just a YouTuber

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19 hours ago

Jake Paul, left, punches Julio César Chávez Jr. during their cruiserweight boxing match on Saturday at the Honda Center. (Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
It took Julio César Chávez Jr. three rounds to throw an accurate punch, three more to show he was awake and three more to remember he could fight. The Mexican boxer's effort was not enough and he lost by unanimous decision to Jake Paul, who showed many defensive deficiencies that Chávez — a former middleweight champion — did not take advantage of.
While Chávez was slowly reacting to his opponent, Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) was scoring points, forcing the son of Mexican legend Julio César Chávez to row against the current in the bout's final rounds. Julio César Chávez Jr. seemed disconnected in the early rounds and spent time complaining to the referee about alleged headbutts and ill-intentioned punches from his opponent.
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'I reacted too late,' said Chávez (54-7-1, 34 KOs) after Saturday night's bout at the Honda Center in Anaheim, where his frustrated father was among the fans. Julio César Chávez frequently stood up from his seat and shouted directions to his eldest son.
'He's a strong fighter and after the first three or four rounds, he got tired, so I think he's not ready for championship fights, but he's a good fighter,' Julio César Chávez Jr. said of Paul — a YouTube star turned boxer — after the loss.
Despite his poor start and loss, Chávez was not booed. Paul earned that right from the first moment cameras captured his walk to the ring before the fight began.
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The decibels erupted when Paul appeared wearing the colors of the Mexican flag on his robe as he walked to the ring to the rhythm of Kilo's 'Dance Like a Cholo.'
'It's one of the songs I used to dance to when I was a kid,' Paul said during a news conference after the fight.
Paul did it, he said, in honor of Mexican legend Julio César Chávez.
'It was an ode to his father,' Paul assured. "I wore the same outfit as his dad every time I walked to the fights. It's a respect to his dad. But also, when I got in the ring, I said, 'I'm going to be your daddy tonight.'"
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
After speaking with reporters, Paul improvised a face-off when he crossed paths with Gilberto Ramirez, the evening's co-main event. Ramirez is the World Boxing Assn. (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight champion after defending his belts against Cuba's Yuniel Dorticos.
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Ramirez is not exactly a fighter known for creating an intense pre-fight atmosphere, but he presents another opportunity for Paul to cement himself as a legitimate boxer. Paul has said he has faced difficulty scheduling fights after his unconventional move from YouTube stunts to sanctioned boxing.
"I still want to do it. I'm used to these guys not being good promoters and at the end of the day, I'm going to fight these guys," Paul said. 'Today, I feel like it was the first day of my boxing career, I'm just warming up and this is the second chapter from here on out.'
Paul has been consistently criticized for not facing trained boxers. Chávez was just the third boxer Paul has faced in his 13 fights since debuting in January 2020. In 2024, 58-year-old legend Mike Tyson was the second fighter he faced.
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Paul's only loss came at the hands of Tommy Fury in February 2023.
"I don't think I was a fighter at the time, I was barely two and a half years into the sport," Paul said, reflecting on his start in the sport and loss to Fury. "I didn't really know what I was doing. I didn't have the right equipment around me, the right conditioning. My lifestyle outside of the ring was still like that of a YouTuber, a famous actor or whatever it was at that point in time. I wasn't completely focused on boxing.
"... Chapter one is over today and now I'm moving on to chapter two. ... People still hold the Tommy Fury fight against me, but now I've beaten a former world champion and I'm coming to collect on that loss to Tommy."
Jake Paul, right, punches Julio César Chávez Jr. during their cruiserweight boxing match on Saturday at the Honda Center.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
In the co-feature, Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) defended his cruiserweight titles against mandatory challenger Dorticos (27-3, 25 KOs). Ramirez won by unanimous decision after the judges' scorecards read 115-112, 115-112, 117-110.
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"I think it was a good performance, he can hit. I don't know why it was so close in the scores, but it is what it is," Ramírez said.
He is eager to lock in a unification fight against International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Jai Opetaia.
'We're going to unify titles,' Ramirez said. 'I just had to follow my plan, listen to my corner and get the job done, that's all.'
Although Ramirez entered the fight as the favorite to defend his belts, the Mexican was slow, allowing the scores to be closer than expected. Dorticos was decisive in the early rounds, but as time went on, Ramirez made up ground. Dorticos lost a point after the referee penalized him for connecting consecutive low blows.
Making her return to professional boxing after a 12-year absence, former UFC champion and ring veteran Holly Holm (34-2-3, 9 KOs) faced undefeated Mexican Yolanda Vega Ochoa (10-1, 1 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Holm dominated from the start, setting the pace with her jab, controlling her opponent's attack and using precise combinations. Vega opted to press, but landed constant clean punches and was unable to connect meaningful combinations that would turn the tide of the fight.
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Holm won by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 100-90. Her performance was resounding because of her tactical control, mobility and ability to neutralize Vega's offense, who was unable to break her strategy or avoid the cleaner punches.
'I love kicking so much that I loved MMA for a while, but then I started to feel a growing pain from wanting to box again, so it's been fun to come back and just get those boxing arms going,' Holm said. "I only sparred in wrestling shoes twice, I was barefoot the whole camp, I was looking for my groin protector the day I flew in, it was in the dumpsters in my garage. I'm still training with the same team, with the same trainers, I did the whole camp. I haven't sparred in a ring in I don't know how long, so this feels great."
With a great combination and a powerful uppercut, Mexican Raúl Curiel (16-0-1, 14 KOs) knocked down Uruguayan Victor Rodríguez (16-1-1, 9 KOs) in the fourth round and although the Uruguayan managed to get to his feet, he did not have the power to stop an onslaught from Curiel. The referee stopped the fight at the 2:09 mark during the fourth round.
The fight determined the mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Assn. (WBA) welterweight title.
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'It was an eliminator for the title, so I pushed myself,' said Curiel, a Tampico, Tamaulipas, native. "I knew it would end in knockout. I didn't know which round, but knockout. I was strong."
Rodríguez finished the fight in bad shape, with his nose injured and one eye swollen and bleeding.
Now Curiel wants to fight Rolando Romero, the WBA welterweight champion who most recently beat Ryan Garcia by unanimous decision in May.
'With whoever, whatever champion is available,' Curiel said. "Let's fight Rolly. We fight all the champions."
Welterweight Julian Rodríguez (24-1, 15 KOs) earned a dramatic win over Avious Griffin (17-1, 16 KOs), who lost his undefeated record and at times appeared to be in control of the bout. With five seconds left in the 10th round, Rodríguez knocked Griffin down in such a way that he almost knocked him out of the ring.
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The fight was mostly evenly matched and two of the judges had the bout as a draw, while the third gave Rodríguez the win by two points.
'All the sacrifice, all the pain to get to this point,' Rodriguez, who was clearly exhausted, said in the ring. "It was pure emotion. Now I'll be back in the gym in the next two or three weeks."
In a lightweight bout, Floyd Schofield (19-0, 13 KOs) wasted no time and in just 78 seconds of the first round took out veteran Tevin Farmer (33-9-1, 8 KOs). Schofield knocked Farmer down twice and the referee stopped the bout at the 1:18 mark.
In February, Schofield had a fight scheduled against World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Shakur Stevenson in Saudi Arabia, but he was unable to make it because he was hospitalized twice before that bout. Schofield has not explained the reasons for his hospitalization.
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'I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,' Schofield said after Saturday's win over Farmer. "They doubted me since what happened in February, and a lot of people didn't believe I would win this fight. It's just a lot of excitement."
Preliminary fight results
In a welterweight bout, Joel Iriarte defeated Kevin Johnson by unanimous decision: 78-74, 80-72, 79-74.
Bantamweight Alexander Gueche was the winner against Vincent Avina: 80-72, 80-72, 79-73.
At heavyweight, Joshua Edwards knocked out Dominic Hardy in the first round.
Super featherweight René Alvarado beat Víctor Morales by unanimous decision: 96-94, 99-91, 99-91.
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John Ramírez defeated Josué Jesús Morales at bantamweight by unanimous decision: 79-73, 80-72, 80-72.
This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.