Jake Paul has taken down another former world champion. Paul badly outworked former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to earn a clear unanimous decision in their cruiserweight showdown on Saturday.
Chavez looked completely uninterested in fighting in the first handful of rounds, allowing Paul to jump out to a big lead on the scorecards on the strength of his jab and body work. Chavez was so inactive that he landed zero punches in the opening round.
The fight remained in a very stable pattern round after round, with Paul coming out of the corner aggressive and establishing a solid jab, working to the body and occasionally throwing power punches. While Paul was doing work, Chavez did little beyond complain about phantom fouls, such as complaining that legal body shots were low or claiming he was hit in the back of the head when hit by legal punches.
By the final two rounds, Paul appeared to fatigue slightly and Chavez suddenly showed some fire. The first clear Chavez round came in Round 9, when he was able to press Paul and land some good power shots and keep Paul from staying in his jabbing rhythm.
But Chavez's attempt at a late charge was too little, too late as the official scorecards read 99-91, 97-93 and 98-92 after 10 rounds of action.
Paul landed 140 of 482 punches to 61 of 154 for Chavez. Of note, 40 of Chavez's 61 landed punches came in the final two rounds.
After the fight, Paul mocked fans who were booing him before suggesting that he may be ready to fight for a world title.
"All the boos are words and actions speak louder than words," Paul said. "I'm him. I'm really him. I just beat your boy's ass. Easy work. ... I want tougher fighters. I want to be world champion. [WBO and WBA champ Gilberto Ramirez] looked slow as shit tonight. [WBC champion] Badou Jack. Tommy [Fury], you stop running."
While the idea of Paul fighting for a world title will baffle many, he is expected to be ranked by the WBA after his win over Chavez, with some rumors saying the WBC will rank Paul as well, clearing one of the hurdles for someone to cash in on Paul's polarizing popularity with a title fight.
The co-main event saw one of those champions that Paul may be challenging, Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez, defend his pair of cruiserweight titles against Yuniel Dorticos. Ramirez gutted his way through a tough 12-round challenge to hang on to the WBA and WBO titles at 200 pounds despite a spirited effort from Dorticos, who gave the Mexican all he could handle. Ramirez, 34, has only been defeated once as a pro when he dropped a decision to Dmitry Bivol for the WBA light heavyweight title in 2022. Ramirez could target matchups with Badou Jack or Jai Opetaia to unify more belts, or perhaps secure a massive payday against Paul.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
There wasn't much drama as the fans waited for the scorecards to be read as Paul dominated almost every round aside from when Chavez finally came on in the final two rounds. Paul will leave knowing he needs to improve his cardio moving forward as he looked tired down the stretch and that helped Chavez's late efforts.
Chavez's corner told him to give it everything he needs because he needed a knockout. Chavez landed a right hand after eating a few shots from Paul. Paul landed two jabs. Paul landed a left hook and tied up. Chavez landed a good left hook and Paul responded with a left of his own. Paul landed an uppercut and a body shot. Chavez landed a good jab and tried to flurry along the ropes. Chavez landed a glancing right hand and then a good jab. Paul landed a jab and a left to the body. Chavez charged in late and partially landed a left hand. Probably another Paul round there. No doubt on who gets the cards.
Paul followed his corner's instructions to move and box. Chavez again tried to complain about low blows for legal shots, leading the referee to halt the action and explain the punches were legal. Chavez landed a chopping right hand and Paul tied him up to get back to range. Chavez did a little bit of good work to the body while Paul looked a little fatigued. But then Jake landed a series of jabs. Chavez landed a big uppercut at the end of a flurry. A left hand landed for Chavez as Paul tried to fire back. Chavez celebrated after the round.
Paul, unsurprisingly, was right back to jabbing before ripping a body shot. Chavez landed a good jab and then missed on a wild right hand. Paul threw a rear uppercut and a body shot and then connected with a good jab. Chavez landed a good right hand and Paul responded with a short flurry. Chavez landed a left to the body, and Paul responded with a combination.
Paul went right back to his jabs and body shots after Chavez looked very tired in the corner. Paul ripped two hard punches to the body. Chavez connected with a left hook. Chavez tried to rip to the body but landed low. Paul landed a good step-in uppercut through the guard. Paul went to the body twice and then came right back to the head. Paul landed one final right hand before the round ended.
Paul landed several good shots on the inside, landing to the body. Paul landed a good uppercut and then a hard jab. Chavez tried to charge forward and landed one to the body. Chavez finally connected with a hook to the head after a body shot. Chavez landed a straight right along the ropes. Chavez started to come forward a bit more, getting a good reaction from the crowd before Paul fired back. Still probably a Paul round, but that was a bit of life shown from Chavez.
Paul went back to the body with a right and then landed a hard jab that snapped Chavez's head back. Another right landed to the body for Chavez before Chavez landed a low blow. Paul kept popping the jabs to the body and head. Chavez partially connected with a right hand and then ate a big body shot in return. Paul finished the round with a few more jabs as Chavez whiffed on a right hand.
Paul landed a sweeping right hand as he kept trying to push the action. A Paul straight right landed to the body. Chavez missed with a left hook and Paul landed two to the body, leading to more complaining from Chavez despite the punches looking clearly clean. Paul landed a big right hand and then a left behind it. Chavez charged forward and landed a glancing right hand. Paul landed a short right hand. Paul landed a left hook and Chavez almost connected with a right. A Chavez jab landed as he continued to try and pick up his pace. Still not nearly enough output from Chavez.
Paul landed a left hook and followed with a hard right to the body. Paul went to the body again with a straight right as the crowd began to boo Chavez -- and Chavez began to complain to the referee again. Chavez Sr. was shown on the broadcast, screaming and seeming to implore his son to do anything. Chavez did land a single left hand late.
Chavez landed zero punches in the opening round. He continued to look hesitant in the second round as Paul popped the jab out both upstairs and down. Paul ripped a right hand to the body. Chavez circled and circles without throwing punches. Chavez finally landed a punch to the body. Paul continued to pop the jab and then landed a good uppercut behind it. Chavez looked like he was completely avoiding contact by the end of the round.
Paul opened with a jab as Chavez covered up and then tried to whip a big hook. Paul continued to pop the jab out before ripping a few good body shots. Paul went back to the body for some more and then landed a jab. Chavez was too content for the opening minutes to fight off the back foot. Paul landed a good overhand right. Chavez missed badly with a left hook to the body. Paul landed a right hand and Chavez complained it was behind the head.
National Anthems are over and Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. are ready to walk to the ring. The main event draws near!
Paul is currently -575 to win. Chavez has never been a consistent fighter and has disappointed in the ring plenty of times. He will have to bring his boxing skills and leave Paul overwhelmed or he could get hurt by Paul, who has natural big punching power. There's still a little time being killed before the main event, but it is up next.
The official scorecards read 115-112, 115-112, 117-110
Ramirez retains his WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles, which leaves him in position for potential big fights later in the year, including a possible fight with IBF champ Jai Opetaia.
Dorticos tried to maintain some distance, wanting space for his trademark right hand. Ramirez landed a good step-in uppercut and then popped out a few stiff jabs. Dorticos landed a hard right but ate a jab right after. Ramirez used good movement to pick and pop at Dorticos.
Ramirez went right back to pushing inside, and again, Dorticos landed low. For some reason, that was not another point taken. Ramirez was content to stand toe-to-toe, seemingly unbothered by Dorticos' power at this point in the fight. Ramirez landed a good straight left along the ropes. Dorticos landed a few late but not likely enough to take the round.
Dorticos had a nice moment of landing some punches around Ramirez's guard. Dorticos threw several body shots, three of which clearly went low. After all the previous warnings, the referee was forced to take a point from Dorticos. That could be the nail in the coffin for Dorticos as the cards are likely wider than our unofficial card. Ramirez pushed inside again, trying to wear on the challenger and continue to outwork him in close. Ramirez's inside work again should have won him the round.
