ON Saturday night, Jake Paul takes on a former middleweight world champion in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. While the Mexican’s prior achievements would presumably make him the favourite against a YouTuber-turned-boxer, it is Paul who is expected to come out on top – and it’s easy to see why.
Since turning professional in 2020, Paul, 11-1 (7 KOs), has been made to act strategically in his opponent selection, often being criticised for fighting high-profile MMA fighters rather than low-level boxers to sell PPVs whilst simultaneously building his record.
However, in recent years, Paul has begun to up the ante and scored back-to-back first-round knockout wins against actual boxers in Andre August and Ryan Bourland, before last year’s Mike Tyson fiasco.
Paul overcame BKFC’s Mike Perry on the original Paul-Tyson fight date. Eventually, he faced Tyson in their rescheduled November clash, dominating the two-time heavyweight ruler, who was coined as the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ 30 years prior.
Of course, that decision victory proved little, but it ended a streak of three straight wins inside the distance for ‘The Problem Child’. However, viewers generally felt that the 27-year-old purposefully took his foot off the gas and opted against pushing for the stoppage out of respect for Tyson.
Now, Paul is tasked with another former world champion in Chavez Jr., 54-6-1 (34 KOs). Despite the credentials of the latter, the fact that he has fought just six rounds since 2021 makes him a sizeable underdog.
Ironically, those rounds came against a Paul-esque opponent in former UFC middleweight Uriah Hall, where Chavez outboxed the Jamaican martial artist in a relatively straightforward six-rounder.
As a result, this modern version of Chavez Jr. remains an unproven one, especially up at cruiserweight.
Consequently, while the now 39-year-old has indeed won and defended the coveted WBC middleweight crown, it would be a surprise to see him outdo the younger, more active Paul this weekend.
JAKE PAUL VS. JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR. FIGHT PREDICTION
Dropping down 30lbs from his last ‘fight’, it will be intriguing to see if Paul has managed to retain heavyweight power upon his return to the cruiserweight division.
Boxing News anticipates that Paul will be too strong for Chavez both in the clinches and in the close exchanges and that he will be able to walk through Chavez’s best shots with relative ease.
Therefore, when Chavez begins to tire and feel his inactivity, Paul should be able to get his man out of there and claim victory over a second consecutive intelligently and carefully selected former world champion – this time via KO.
