So here we go again, then. Jake Paul is fighting a “proper boxer”.
First, following a parade of MMA retirees and a poleaxed former basketball player, there was Tommy Fury. The part-time boxer/influencer inflicted Paul’s maiden career defeat via a split decision over eight rounds. Fury was dropped in the last of those.
UFC veteran Nate Diaz left the octagon behind to go through 10 rounds against Paul in the squared circle before “proper boxer” No. 2. Andre August was 10-1-1 as a pro — a record that looked more impressive in numbers than when you inspected the names on it – and fighting for only the second time since November 2019 when Paul iced him with a violent right uppercut.
Similarly ticking the boxes of inactive and undercooked was the 17-2 Ryan Bourland, fighting at cruiserweight for the first time in his life and competing for the second time since 2018. He also failed to make it out of the first round.
Beating up club fighters doesn’t fill stadiums, though, so how about eight rounds at a sold-out AT&T Stadium against one of the most adored heavyweights of all time? Mike Tyson was 58 years old and more than two decades removed from his most recent professional win when he stepped through the ropes in Arlington, Texas. Still, those pad sessions that went viral on TikTok looked great, yeah?
Although Paul’s commitment to boxing as an athlete and a promoter should not be disputed, it’s hard to argue against this all being much more than a chimaera. The next man to play his part in the myth building on Saturday night is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
What is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s record?
Chavez has 54 wins as a professional, with 34 of those coming by way of knockout, set against six defeats and a solitary draw.
The 39-year-old is the former WBC middleweight champion, a belt he won courtesy of a majority decision win over the then-undefeated Sebastian Zbik in June 2011.
He held the title for 15 months, making three successful defences. The latter of those, a seventh-round stoppage of future world champion, Kronk Gym protégé and now-esteemed trainer Andy Lee, stands as Chavez’s best win.
Junior’s reign ended when he was comprehensively outboxed by the exceptional Sergio Martinez in September 2012. There was drama in the 12th round, when Chavez dropped his Argentine foe and meted out a brutal final session, but there was little doubt he had been well beaten.
Almost five years had passed by the time Chavez faced off with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a Cinco de Mayo blockbuster at the T-Mobile Arena. He lost every round on all three judges’ scorecards. In December 2019, Chavez quit on his stool after five rounds against Daniel Jacobs, effectively heralding the end of an elite-level career some observers felt was unduly gifted to him in the first place.
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Is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. a good boxer?
Chavez is the son of the great Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. The consensus greatest Mexican boxer of all time having a son carrying the family name back to the top of the sport was a narrative too good for many to resist.
Junior’s route up the WBC rankings, via regional titles and a silver belt, was generously mapped out and nicely feathered. His emphatic dethroning against Martinez – a superb boxer who came up the hard way, on the road and with few favours – was widely lauded by boxing purists.
In the years after losing to Martinez, Chavez became better known for indiscipline, controversies and struggles outside the ring as he was for anything he did within the squared circle.
A positive test for cannabis resulted in a nine-month ban from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. For his comeback bout against Brian Vera in September 2013, Chavez missed the super-middleweight limit by four pounds and went on to claim a deeply controversial unanimous decision win.
A rematch win settled the argument against Vera before a legitimate venture to light heavyweight ended with him decked in round nine by Andrzej Fonfara. Before the 10th, Chavez asked his corner to stop the fight. He did the same against Jacobs, when he also missed weight.
He has gone 3-2 since losing to Jacobs, including a humiliating loss to Anderson Silva before the former UFC veteran shared a ring with Paul. In July last year, following a stint in rehab having been arrested in Los Angeles on gun charges, Chavez boxed for the first time in 31 months, winning a six-round decision over another MMA specialist, Uriah Hall, on the Paul vs. Mike Perry undercard.
So, is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. a good boxer? By the standards of former middleweight world champions, he was unremarkable. That remains a standard that should be beyond Paul’s capabilities.
However, just because his heyday is not as long ago as Tyson’s and he has the good news story of his sobriety, let’s not pretend Chavez will be anywhere close to that peak at the Honda Centre in Anaheim.
Martinez dethroned him comprehensively the best part of 13 years ago. Since then, Chavez has lost to a non-boxer Paul dropped and beat handily. Despite his well-publicised struggles with the scales, he has never been anything like a natural cruiserweight and will be boxing 40 pounds beyond the division where he won his title.
Will this former WBC champion from a bloodline of Mexican boxing royalty beat Jake Paul? Do you really think this fight would be happening if he could?
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