Jake Paul is about to take his biggest boxing test against notorious ex-champ Julio César Chávez Jr
Jake Paul is set to take the biggest risk of his unique boxing career on Saturday night when he faces former middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr. at Honda Center.
Paul (11–1, 7 KOs) is facing his most accomplished opponent yet when he takes on the 39-year-old Chávez (54–6–2, 34 KOs) in front of a raucous Orange County crowd. Chávez has fought once since 2021 and is best known for failing to maximize the potential in his famous father's genetics. He is still the most credible boxer by far to share the ring with Paul, who is now 5 1/2 years and 13 fights into his lucrative boxing tenure. Paul has successfully leveraged his Internet ubiquity and his own hard work to become a force in the business of boxing, if not in championship bouts. He has founded a busy promotional company and flirted with mixed martial arts while becoming one of the most important combat sports athletes in the world on his unique career path. Paul has mostly fought mixed martial artists and fellow online celebrities, and he took his only loss in February 2023 when he stepped in against actual boxer Tommy Fury, whose fame also exceeds his ring skills.
Paul hadn't fought since last November when he beat Mike Tyson in a much-hyped bout that couldn't live up to improbable expectations from fans who didn't understand the simple realities of Tyson being 58 years old. Chávez was away from the ring for three years before his return late last year, but Paul's invitation brought him back again – along with the thousands of fans who eagerly bought tickets in perpetual support of their champion. Chávez has fallen to innumerable lows during a lengthy boxing career conducted in the shadow of his father, one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history. The son has failed drug tests, served suspensions, and egregiously missed weight while being widely criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport. He still rose to its heights, winning the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defending it three times. Chávez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both. Chávez even lost in 2021 to Anderson Silva, the former UFC champion and rudimentary boxer who lost a one-sided ring decision to Paul one year later. Paul's career as the world's most popular pugilistic sideshow could change soon: His financial potency makes it almost inevitable that he will be invited to fight under a sanctioning body's aegis, which means he could likely book a bout against an elite boxer whenever he chooses.
On the solid undercard in Anaheim, 43-year-old former UFC star Holly Holm returned from a 12-year absence from the boxing ring to dominate previously unbeaten Yolanda Guadalupe Vega Ochoa. New Jersey welterweight Julian Rodriguez then earned a thrilling victory in the waning moments of the 10th and final round, staggering Avious Griffin with a sneaky left hand and eventually knocking the previously unbeaten Griffin sideways into the ropes for a stoppage with 5 seconds left.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
19 minutes ago
- Arab News
Reed, 4Aces enter final round on top of leaderboard at LIV Golf Dallas
CARROLLTON, Texas, US: Since joining LIV Golf, Patrick Reed has 11 top-5 finishes, including five podium results. He has also celebrated seven team victories with his 4Aces GC, including the inaugural 2022 Team Championship, and has twice finished inside the top six in the season-long points race. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport But he has yet to win an individual LIV Golf title in his first 41 regular season starts, making him arguably the best league player without a win. And he has yet to win a professional tournament in his home state of Texas, where he was born and still lives. Now he is 18 holes away from changing both narratives on Sunday at LIV Golf Dallas presented by Aramco. Thanks to a solid 4-under 68 on a challenging Maridoe Golf Club course, Reed moved to 9 under and will take a 3-shot lead entering the final round. This is his first 36-hole lead since joining LIV Golf for the league's first US event in Portland in 2022. 'To get my first LIV victory as well as doing it in my home state would mean a lot,' said the Houston resident, who was born in San Antonio. 'But really, at the end of the day, instead of trying to focus on what happens on the 54th hole, it's stay in the moment. Stay in the present.' His 4Aces team also hope to stay in the present as they seek a first victory since the 2023 tournament in London. The club, captained by Dustin Johnson, has a four-shot lead over Jon Rahm's Legion XIII and Bryson DeChambeau's Crushers GC, who have won the previous two LIV Golf team titles. No other team is within 13 shots of the lead. Reed, meanwhile, has plenty of pursuers, many of whom — like Reed himself — are hungry to win their first individual LIV Golf title. The Crushers' Paul Casey shot a 5-under 67 and is tied for second at 6 under with Fireballs GC's Abraham Ancer, who shot a second consecutive 69. In a four-way tie for fifth at 5 under are Cleeks GC's Richard Bland, Fireballs' David Puig, 4Aces' Harold Varner III and Legion XIII's Tyrrell Hatton, who produced the low round of the day with a 65. His captain Jon Rahm is alone in eighth at 4 under. Four of the top seven players have yet to win an LIV Golf tournament — Reed, Casey, Bland and Puig. And Puig is the only player who ranks inside the top 20 in driving distance average this season. Maridoe, despite its 7,533-yard layout, is rewarding the shot-makers this week in the Texas heat. 'If you're not in the fairway, you're going to struggle,' Ancer said. 'You're going to make big numbers. Bogeys come really, really quickly, even if you're in the fairway.' Ancer should know. He had a rollercoaster round that included seven birdies — including four in a row on his first nine — along with four bogeys and one up-and-down par after an approach shot bounced off the flagstick and rolled off the green at the eighth hole. 'I felt like I stayed in it mentally really well,' said the San Antonio resident. Casey's round had less drama and ended on a high note with three consecutive birdies. Hatton's round, on the flip side, started with three straight birdies. Reed also produced three consecutive birdies and was among the steadiest of performers, hitting 78 percent of his greens in regulation. His challenge on Sunday will be to stay focused on the task at hand. 'The golf game feels pretty solid,' Reed said. 'Everything seems to be tight and where I want it to be. The biggest thing is going out there and not trying to press, not trying to force anything and really just go out and try to win the day as if it's a Monday qualifier.' And his chasers? 'Looking like the way he's playing, he's not going to go backwards,' Bland said. 'We've got to go get him.' Team scores LIV Golf's new scoring format this season means all four scores count in every round in the team competition. Here are the results and scores for each team after Saturday's second round of LIV Golf Dallas presented by Aramco. 4ACES GC -12 (Reed 68, Pieters 71, Varner 72, Johnson 74; Rd. 2 score: -3) T2. LEGION XIII -8 (Hatton 65, McKibbin 71, Rahm 72, Surratt 72; Rd. 2 score: -8) T2. CRUSHERS GC -8 (Casey 67, Howell III 71, DeChambeau 72, Lahiri 73; Rd. 2 score: -5) T4. STINGER GC +2 (Burmester 71, Grace 71, Oosthuizen 71, Schwartzel 74; Rd. 2 score: -1) T4. FIREBALLS GC +2 (Ancer 69, Puig 69, Garcia 74, Ballester 76; Rd. 2 score: E) CLEEKS GC +7 (Bland 69, Rottluff 70, Meronk 72, Kaymer 74; Rd. 2 score: -3) TORQUE GC +14 (Niemann 66, Munoz 70, Ortiz 70, Pereira 79; Rd. 2 score: -3) T8. RIPPER GC +15 (Leishman 70, Herbert 71, Smith 71, Jones 75; Rd. 2 score: -1) T8. HYFLYERS GC +15 (Steele 69, Tringale 73, Mickelson 74, Ogletree 78; Rd. 2 score: +6) MAJESTICKS GC +16 (Horsfield 72, Stenson 73, Westwood 75, Poulter 78; Rd. 2 score: +10) RANGEGOATS GC +18 (Campbell 70, Watson 73, Uihlein 75, Schniederjans 78; Rd. 2 score: +8) T12. SMASH GC +22 (Gooch 70, Kokrak 74, McDowell 74, Carrera 77; Rd. 2 score: +7) T12. IRON HEADS GC +22 (Kozuma 70, Lee 76, Jang 79, Na 79; Rd. 2 score: +16) Wildcards: C. Lee 71, A. Kim 74
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
YouTuber Paul cruises past Chavez Jr
ANAHEIM, United States: YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul cruised to victory over Mexico's Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Saturday in a one-sided cruiserweight bout in whose last fight was a controversial clash with 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in November, dominated from the outset to win by unanimous 28-year-old influencer, who has earned millions from a string of lucrative contests in a ring career that has spanned 13 fights, had too much speed and power for Chavez three judges at ringside scored the 10-round fight 99-91, 97-93, 98-92 in Paul's Jr., the 39-year-old son of Mexican boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez, barely looked capable of mustering a response during a one-sided Jr. failed to land a single punch in the opening round, a pattern that followed the remainder of the contest, with Paul easily outscoring the veteran of 63 professional who reportedly pocketed around $40 million for his made-for-Netflix fight with Tyson last year, received around $300,000 guaranteed from Saturday's the American is expected to earn around $8 million-$10 million from the fight once earnings from pay-per-view and sponsorships are taken into account.
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Ferreira, Musovski Score Goals To Lead Seattle's 2-0 Win Over Austin; Rusnák Reaches MLS Milestone
Jesús Ferreira and Danny Musovski scored midway through the match, and the Seattle Sounders defeated Austin FC 2–0 on Saturday night to move into fifth place in the Western Conference of the MLS. Ferreira scored in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, giving the Sounders a 1–0 halftime lead. He connected with a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the top right corner. He was assisted by Paul Rothrock, with a second assist by Albert Rusnák. The assist made Rusnák the 13th player in MLS history to record 65 career goals and 65 career assists. He leads the Sounders offensively this season with seven goals and four assists. In the 54th minute, Musovski scored with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Ferreira had the assist. The Sounders (29 points, 8–6–5) moved into fifth place; their three points for the win breaking a tie with Austin, which remains at 26 points (7–8–5) and San Jose. San Jose has 27 points after a 1–1 tie with LA Galaxy. Austin's Brad Stuver made four saves. Seattle's Stefan Frei had one save for the clean sheet. Seattle's Reed Baker-Whiting was shown a second yellow card in the 89th minute. It was Seattle's first match of the second half of the MLS season. The Sounders recently played three matches in the FIFA Club World Cup. Austin last played on June 14 in an MLS match. Up next, Austin hosts LAFC on Saturday. Seattle hosts Columbus on Sunday.
