HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Jake Paul’s career-long vision has been to defy all expectations and fight to become a world champion.
The closest he will have stepped toward completing that mission arrives on the night of June 28, when he will meet former middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr in the main event of a card featuring unified cruiserweight belt holder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in the co-main event.
Paul, 11-1 (7 KOs), and Chavez, 54-6-1 (34 KOs), who will fight in a cruiserweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds, met reporters Wednesday at the Avalon Theater, where they engaged in an entertaining verbal back-and-forth, with Paul promising to do what Saul “Canelo” Alvarez couldn’t and knock out Chavez Jnr, whose father – the Mexican legend – also attended and participated in the banter.
“Who have you knocked out?” Chavez Jnr asked, trolling Paul’s list of victims, which includes a retired NBA player and UFC veterans Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren.
“Mike Tyson didn’t throw a punch,” sneered Chavez Snr, referring to Paul’s November victory and record-breaking viewership on Netflix. “The way [Chavez Jnr] is training right now, there is no way, no how that Jake Paul can beat my son.”
Yet Paul told BoxingScene on stage that a destructive performance of Chavez Jnr at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on DAZN will be the final threshold he needs to prove himself fit for a title shot.
“I’m ready now. This is just a stepping stone. I see him as a speed bump,” Paul said. “I know what I’m capable of, and that’s the mindset you have to have. I know I’m the greatest. I know I’m a champion even before I arrive to that level, so [Ramirez] can get it whenever.”
While Paul said he is also in touch with WBC cruiserweight titlist Badou Jack, unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis for future fights – Davis’ would be an exhibition – the Ramirez showdown is most logical considering their mutual involvement on this card.
The left-handed Ramirez, 47-1 (30 KOs), will meet Cuba’s former IBF cruiserweight belt holder Yuniel Dorticos, 27-2 (25 KOs), on the Anaheim card.
Should Ramirez defeat the “K.O. Doctor,” he agreed he would be hard-pressed to find a better opponent than Paul, who sold nearly 60,000 tickets at AT&T Stadium and generated 108 million views on Netflix for the Tyson bout.
“I have to take care of the business of Dorticos first,” Ramirez said. “Then, whoever. It don’t matter.”
He said he’s “grateful” to be on a quality card even though he is stepping away from his recent main-event designation.
Paul was negotiating for another title fight this year, recalling being positioned during February talks to fight undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. Those plans fell through when Alvarez took a lackluster May 3 fight in Saudi Arabia versus Cuba’s William Scull, winning by decision.
Paul guaranteed his fight with Chavez Jnr will be more entertaining than Alvarez’s recent and coming fight in September, against four-division champion Terence Crawford.
“[Alvarez] is boring, guys. I threw more punches in eight two-minute rounds against Tyson than he did in a 12-round fight,” Paul said. “I would’ve beat Canelo. He’s over the hill. This [fight] has more hype around it. We’ve seen [Alvarez’s and Crawford’s] boring-ass fights. They’re probably going to dance for 12 rounds.”
Missing out on the Alvarez opportunity was a lesson to Paul.
“I’m used to boxing politics – the ebbs and flows, fights falling through,” Paul said. “I’ve changed my opponent and I have to stay locked in no matter where or when the fight is.”
It moved him to work with Ramirez promoter Oscar De La Hoya to make a card that will heighten the anticipation and better secure a title showdown.
“It was a collaboration … with our ideas of lining up certain opponents to become a world champion,” Paul said.
While Chavez Jnr, 39, has gained a well-deserved reputation for being an undisciplined fighter who has endured rehab battles and even lost a boxing match to former UFC champion Anderson Silva – whom Paul defeated – he apparently is training seriously in Southern California and said he wants to support boxing by being the man to finish Paul’s unexpected (and sometimes criticized) rise in the sport from his role as a YouTuber.
“I’m going to shock the world again and prove how powerful I am,” Paul said. “I don’t want any excuses. They say he’s training hard. They say he’s looking good. Good. I’m going to expose him. When he feels those first punches, he’s going to want to quit and go back to his stool.
“I always said I’m going to fight big people in high-money fights. I’m taking on tougher opponents [as I go].”
That means former super middleweight titleholder Ramirez would be next in victory.
“This is what I came here to do, become world champion and create one of the greatest sports stories the world has ever seen,” Paul said. “I’m here to inspire the next generation and do what no one has ever done in the hardest sport in the world, which is boxing.”
Paul said he’s not concerned about potential hostile environs fighting a Mexican in Southern California.
“The fans have wanted to see this, and I want to continue to elevate and rise,” Paul said of choosing Chavez Jnr. “They love me more than this guy [Chavez Jnr]. Mexico doesn’t even claim him. I’m going to show him who the real Mexican warrior is.”
Paul also turned to his opponent at one point and said, “There’s two things you can’t beat: me and your drug addiction.”
Chavez Jnr answered, “Paul has never fought anyone like me. Mike Tyson … when he wasn’t even a fighter. He doesn’t know what to expect, because he’s never seen it. In boxing, you learn step by step. He’s missed out on many.”
Chavez Snr poured salt in the wound: “This time, [Paul’s] gonna get fucked up,” to which Paul told the elder Chavez he will be reduced to another social-media meme, holding his head in his hands in embarrassment of his son.
“I didn’t know it was bring-your-daddy-to-work day,” Paul added. “You’re nothing without your dad. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
Afterward, Paul said he enjoyed the verbal exchanges with father and son, and his Most Valuable Promotions introduced boxing Hall of Famer Holly Holm’s return to the sport after she reigned as a UFC champion one decade ago. Holm will meet Mexico’s Yolanda Vega in a lightweight bout on the Paul-Chavez Jnr card, and said she expects to land a title shot soon as the Paul-promoted Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano junior welterweight title trilogy nears July 11 at Madison Square Garden.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.