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Topics: Boxing, Jake Paul, Boxing News
Jack Kenmare
Fans are reacting to Jake Paul's latest outing after the YouTuber-turned-boxer recorded a unanimous decision win over former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
The build-up to this fight can be traced all the way back to January 2022, when Paul took his professional boxing record to 5-0 with a knockout victory over former UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
After the fight, he called out Chavez Jr – son of Mexico’s legendary three-weight world champion Julio Cesar Chavez.
"I like that fight a lot because it silences the critics,” Paul told The Volume Sports. “He was a former world champion and I know I could beat him. That challenge excites me and I'm down."
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Chavez Jr won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 with a majority win over Germany's Sebastian Zbik, but would lose the belt the following year after an unanimous decision loss to Argentina’s Sergio Martinez.
He would later suffer defeat against Canelo Alvarez in 2017, but was able to take the four-weight world champion all 12 rounds in a fight in Las Vegas.
Eight years later and a tired-looking Chavez Jr would once again go the distance, but this time against influencer Jake Paul, who recorded a unanimous 99-91, 97-93 and 98-92 victory over the former WBC middleweight champion.
Chavez Jr, 39, struggled to throw a punch until late in the fourth and looked lethargic throughout, which was no surprise given he had fought just once since 2021.
Soon, the scorecards would emerge on social media, with fans once again suggesting that Paul should fight someone of a higher calibre after claiming every single round except for one.
One said: "Fighters like @jakepaul only seem to go after retired legends well past their prime. If he’s serious about being a real boxer, he should step into the ring with someone active and around his age. Until then, it all feels staged and rigged."
A second wrote: "Let JP fight an active boxer," and a third commented: "Need real competition, only fight he lost was against someone his age... doesn’t look good on the resume. Rigged."
A fourth said: "Disgrace of a fight, mockery of the sport," and a fifth added: "Let Jake Paul fight an active ranked boxer in twelve 3-minute rounds and see how it goes. If he wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do what real fighters do."
As you can see from the scorecard below, two judges thought Chavez won round nine of the contest.
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After the contest on Saturday, Paul opened up on a potential bout with former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
"I'm definitely not a heavyweight, but I'm still going to take the challenge," he said. "You look at Deontay Wilder... he was beating these guys weighing 215lbs. Granted, he's like 6ft 6in, but anything is possible. So I like the challenge.
"That's the criticism: 'fight someone in their prime who's a beast'. I think people just want to see me lose. That's really what the message is behind it all.
"Anthony Joshua is an insane fight, but I want that challenge. We've been DMing back-and-forth - he wants to make it happen. He called me up, and it is looking very likely for next year."