Jake Paul overcomes late surge from Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to win wide unanimous decision
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. came on strong against Jake Paul, but it was too little, too late.
Chavez Jr.’s success in the ninth and 10th rounds ultimately wasn’t enough to avoid a unanimous decision defeat (97-93, 99-91, 98-92) to Paul on Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
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Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) dominated the first half of the contest with his consistent left hand. Chavez (54-7-1, 34 KOs) was reluctant to let his hands go and easily gave up the first few rounds, even landing zero punches in the opener, according to boxing stat-tracker CompuBox.
Paul kept Chavez at bay with his jab, and when he did close the distance, he ripped hooks to Chavez’s midsection. Chavez complained that Paul’s body punches were low multiple times during the fight, but referee Gerard White — rightly — ignored those protests.
In the second half of the bout, Chavez started to increase his output with single power punches that knocked Paul’s head back, but even then, he was still easily outworked by Paul. Paul showed clear signs of improvement from recent fights, adding the right uppercut to his arsenal and working well up close against the former WBC middleweight champion.
Chavez Jr. came to life late and won the final two rounds, but it wasn’t enough to win him the fight. Paul was clearly fatigued from the ninth round onward and was caught with wide hooks and rights from the son of Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.
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After the fight, Paul reiterated his desire to challenge cruiserweight champions Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Badou Jack. Paul also named former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and the WBA lightweight titleist Gervonta “Tank” Davis as foes he would like to share the ring with in the future.
In the night’s co-feature, the aforementioned “Zurdo” Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) retained his WBA and WBO unified cruiserweight titles with a unanimous decision victory over his mandatory challenger, Yuniel Dorticos.
Dorticos (27-3, 25 KOs) outworked Ramirez in the early rounds, pushing him back with thudding power punches, however Ramirez came on strong in the second half of the contest, making the adjustments to earn a hard-fought decision.
Gilberto Ramirez and Yuniel Dorticos exchange punches during their cruiserweight world title bout.
(Anadolu via Getty Images)
A unification between Ramirez and IBF champion Jai Opetaia would be one of the best matchups in the sport. Ramirez reiterated his desire to make a fight with Opetaia in his post-fight interview, although his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, said earlier in the night that he would prefer to match Ramirez with WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez.
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“That’s the fight that I want,” Ramirez said about an Opetaia unification. “I’m the king. Numero uno.”
Elsewhere on the card, Floyd Schofield announced himself to the lightweight division with an opening-round TKO win over Tevin Farmer. Schofield put Farmer down twice before the stoppage with sharp power punches. Farmer had extended William Zepeda (twice) and Raymond Muratalla the 10-round distance in closely contested contests over the past 12 months, but he was blown away early by the impressive 22-year-old Schofield.
Catch full Paul vs. Chavez results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s play-by-play of the main card.
Main card
Cruiserweight: Jake Paul def. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. via unanimous decision (99-91, 97-93, 98-92)
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Welterweight: Raul Curiel def. Victor Ezequiel Rodriguez via fourth-round TKO | Watch video
Welterweight: Julian Rodriguez def. Avious Griffin via tenth-round KO | Watch video
Lightweight: Floyd Schofield def. Tevin Farmer via first-round TKO | Watch video
Welterweight: Joel Iriarte def. Kevin Johnson via unanimous decision (78-74, 80-72, 79-74)
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Bantamweight: Alexander Gueche def. Vincent Avina via unanimous decision (80-72, 80-72, 79-73)
Heavyweight: Joshua Edwards def. Dominic Hardy via first-round TKO | Watch video
Super featherweight: Rene Alvarado def. Victor Morales via unanimous decision (96-94, 99-91, 99-91)
Bantamweight: John Ramirez def. Josue Jesus Morales via unanimous decision (79-73, 80-72, 80-72)
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