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Andreas Hale
After failing to land blockbuster fights with Canelo Alvarez and Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Jake Paul has decided to face a former world champion when he steps into the ring with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 28 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Coming off a record-breaking boxing event where Paul defeated 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson by unanimous decision, the YouTuber-turned-prizefighter sought Canelo, one of the biggest names in the sport.
Instead, he will have to settle for one of Canelo’s victims. Chavez, 39, the former WBC middleweight champion who has dealt with personal issues over the past few years, including inactivity, issues making weight, and a failed drug test.
“I just defeated the baddest man on the planet, and now I’m going against a former champion who conman Canelo couldn’t finish,” said Paul in a statement to ESPN on Friday.
Although Chavez is 8-6 since 2012, he still carries name value as the son of boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez and a step up in competition for Paul given his boxing pedigree.
Some will groan over the idea that Paul is facing another former champion well out of his prime. However, this is a logical step in Paul’s boxing career, who turned pro in 2020 with only one amateur fight. While people are stuck on Paul’s name and antics, the reality is that he doesn’t have the experience of his contemporaries and if he took the regular path for young boxers, he would be matched up against even lesser opposition at this stage of his career.
Paul’s popularity has been the yin and yang of his boxing career, and it puts him under public scrutiny every single time he announces a fight. The expectations of him fighting a “real boxer” are often illogical, considering that the term “real boxer” actually means an experienced fighter who would defeat him.
That’s not how boxing works.
Paul’s opponents have to strike a delicate balance between a quality name that can sell tickets and a broader appeal, and an experience level and/or current ability that matches his. What ends up happening is that we get Paul against either inexperienced fighters who lack skill or over-the-hill fighters with deteriorating ability. Chavez certainly falls into the latter. However, Chavez’s power has been undeniable, even when his dedication to training has been questionable, at best. Even as he closes in on 40, Chavez can fight and has a solid chin and has a punishing left hook. If he dedicates himself to a full camp rather than cashing a check, the Mexican could be a formidable opponent who presents a constant sense of danger and has good enough defense to prevent Paul from landing the overhand right that has taken out plenty of his previous opponents.
For Paul’s sake, he better hope that a motivated Chavez shows up in the ring on June 28 and gives him a fight. It may not silence all of the naysayers, but it will help him grow as a fighter. If not, and Chavez shows up visibly out of shape, the criticism will deservedly rain from all angles.
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