ANAHEIM, California – Jake Paul’s first bout versus a former world champion Saturday night may move him one major step closer to the world title shot he has long visualized.
Facing former WBC middleweight belt holder Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr at Honda Center, Paul, 11-1 (7 KOs), is in position with a victory to move into the WBA top-15 rankings, which will fuel his push to land that title shot, perhaps against the winner of tonight’s co-main event pitting unified WBA/WBO cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez versus Cuba’s top-ranked contender Yuniel Dorticos, 39.
In a conversation with BoxingScene on Saturday before the bout, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza said he expects a victorious Paul to climb into the WBA rankings.
Given Paul’s massive popularity, the same is expected in the WBC rankings, where the titleholder is Badou Jack, 41.
BoxingScene will provide live round-by-round coverage of both Paul-Chavez and Ramirez-Dorticos here.
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.