It took Julio César Chávez Jr. three rounds to throw an correct punch, three extra to indicate he was awake and three extra to recollect he may struggle. The Mexican boxer’s effort was not sufficient and he misplaced by unanimous determination to Jake Paul, who confirmed many defensive deficiencies that Chávez — a former middleweight champion — didn’t benefit from.
Whereas Chávez was slowly reacting to his opponent, Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) was scoring factors, forcing the son of Mexican legend Julio César Chávez to row towards the present within the bout’s last rounds. Julio César Chávez Jr. appeared disconnected within the early rounds and frolicked complaining to the referee about alleged headbutts and ill-intentioned punches from his opponent.
“I reacted too late,” mentioned Chávez (54-7-1, 34 KOs) after Saturday night time’s bout on the Honda Middle in Anaheim, the place his annoyed father was among the many followers. Julio César Chávez incessantly stood up from his seat and shouted instructions to his eldest son.
“He’s a strong fighter and after the first three or four rounds, he got tired, so I think he’s not ready for championship fights, but he’s a good fighter,” Julio César Chávez Jr. mentioned of Paul — a YouTube star turned boxer — after the loss.
Regardless of his poor begin and loss, Chávez was not booed. Paul earned that proper from the primary second cameras captured his stroll to the ring earlier than the struggle started.
The decibels erupted when Paul appeared sporting the colours of the Mexican flag on his gown as he walked to the ring to the rhythm of Kilo’s “Dance Like a Cholo.”
Paul did it, he mentioned, in honor of Mexican legend Julio César Chávez.
“It was an ode to his father,” Paul assured. “I wore the same outfit as his dad every time I walked to the fights. It’s a respect to his dad. But also, when I got in the ring, I said, ‘I’m going to be your daddy tonight.’”
(Etienne Laurent / Related Press)
After talking with reporters, Paul improvised a face-off when he crossed paths with Gilberto Ramirez, the night’s co-main occasion. Ramirez is the World Boxing Assn. (WBA) and World Boxing Group (WBO) cruiserweight champion after defending his belts towards Cuba’s Yuniel Dorticos.
Ramirez shouldn’t be precisely a fighter identified for creating an intense pre-fight ambiance, however he presents one other alternative for Paul to cement himself as a reliable boxer. Paul has mentioned he has confronted problem scheduling fights after his unconventional transfer from YouTube stunts to sanctioned boxing.
“I still want to do it. I’m used to these guys not being good promoters and at the end of the day, I’m going to fight these guys,” Paul mentioned. “Today, I feel like it was the first day of my boxing career, I’m just warming up and this is the second chapter from here on out.”
Paul has been persistently criticized for not dealing with skilled boxers. Chávez was simply the third boxer Paul has confronted in his 13 fights since debuting in January 2020. In 2024, 58-year-old legend Mike Tyson was the second fighter he confronted.
Paul’s solely loss got here by the hands of Tommy Fury in February 2023.
“I don’t think I was a fighter at the time, I was barely two and a half years into the sport,” Paul mentioned, reflecting on his begin within the sport and loss to Fury. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. I didn’t have the right equipment around me, the right conditioning. My lifestyle outside of the ring was still like that of a YouTuber, a famous actor or whatever it was at that point in time. I wasn’t completely focused on boxing.
”… Chapter one is over immediately and now I’m transferring on to chapter two. … Folks nonetheless maintain the Tommy Fury struggle towards me, however now I’ve crushed a former world champion and I’m coming to gather on that loss to Tommy.”
Jake Paul, proper, punches Julio César Chávez Jr. throughout their cruiserweight boxing match on Saturday on the Honda Middle.
(Etienne Laurent / Related Press)
Within the co-feature, Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) defended his cruiserweight titles towards obligatory challenger Dorticos (27-3, 25 KOs). Ramirez gained by unanimous determination after the judges’ scorecards learn 115-112, 115-112, 117-110.
“I think it was a good performance, he can hit. I don’t know why it was so close in the scores, but it is what it is,” Ramírez mentioned.
He’s desperate to lock in a unification struggle towards Worldwide Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Jai Opetaia.
“We’re going to unify titles,” Ramirez mentioned. “I just had to follow my plan, listen to my corner and get the job done, that’s all.”
Though Ramirez entered the struggle as the favourite to defend his belts, the Mexican was gradual, permitting the scores to be nearer than anticipated. Dorticos was decisive within the early rounds, however as time went on, Ramirez made up floor. Dorticos misplaced a degree after the referee penalized him for connecting consecutive low blows.
Making her return to skilled boxing after a 12-year absence, former UFC champion and ring veteran Holly Holm (34-2-3, 9 KOs) confronted undefeated Mexican Yolanda Vega Ochoa (10-1, 1 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Holm dominated from the beginning, setting the tempo along with her jab, controlling her opponent’s assault and utilizing exact mixtures. Vega opted to press, however landed fixed clear punches and was unable to attach significant mixtures that may flip the tide of the struggle.
Holm gained by unanimous determination, with all three judges scoring the struggle 100-90. Her efficiency was resounding due to her tactical management, mobility and talent to neutralize Vega’s offense, who was unable to interrupt her technique or keep away from the cleaner punches.
“I love kicking so much that I loved MMA for a while, but then I started to feel a growing pain from wanting to box again, so it’s been fun to come back and just get those boxing arms going,” Holm mentioned. “I only sparred in wrestling shoes twice, I was barefoot the whole camp, I was looking for my groin protector the day I flew in, it was in the dumpsters in my garage. I’m still training with the same team, with the same trainers, I did the whole camp. I haven’t sparred in a ring in I don’t know how long, so this feels great.”
With a terrific mixture and a strong uppercut, Mexican Raúl Curiel (16-0-1, 14 KOs) knocked down Uruguayan Victor Rodríguez (16-1-1, 9 KOs) within the fourth spherical and though the Uruguayan managed to get to his ft, he didn’t have the ability to cease an onslaught from Curiel. The referee stopped the struggle on the 2:09 mark in the course of the fourth spherical.
The struggle decided the obligatory challenger for the World Boxing Assn. (WBA) welterweight title.
“It was an eliminator for the title, so I pushed myself,” mentioned Curiel, a Tampico, Tamaulipas, native. “I knew it would end in knockout. I didn’t know which round, but knockout. I was strong.”
Rodríguez completed the struggle in unhealthy form, together with his nostril injured and one eye swollen and bleeding.
Now Curiel needs to struggle Rolando Romero, the WBA welterweight champion who most not too long ago beat Ryan Garcia by unanimous determination in Could.
“With whoever, whatever champion is available,” Curiel mentioned. “Let’s fight Rolly. We fight all the champions.”
Welterweight Julian Rodríguez (24-1, 15 KOs) earned a dramatic win over Avious Griffin (17-1, 16 KOs), who misplaced his undefeated document and at instances seemed to be accountable for the bout. With 5 seconds left within the tenth spherical, Rodríguez knocked Griffin down in such a means that he nearly knocked him out of the ring.
The struggle was principally evenly matched and two of the judges had the bout as a draw, whereas the third gave Rodríguez the win by two factors.
“All the sacrifice, all the pain to get to this point,” Rodriguez, who was clearly exhausted, mentioned within the ring. “It was pure emotion. Now I’ll be back in the gym in the next two or three weeks.”
In a light-weight bout, Floyd Schofield (19-0, 13 KOs) wasted no time and in simply 78 seconds of the primary spherical took out veteran Tevin Farmer (33-9-1, 8 KOs). Schofield knocked Farmer down twice and the referee stopped the bout on the 1:18 mark.
In February, Schofield had a struggle scheduled towards World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Shakur Stevenson in Saudi Arabia, however he was unable to make it as a result of he was hospitalized twice earlier than that bout. Schofield has not defined the explanations for his hospitalization.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Schofield mentioned after Saturday’s win over Farmer. “They doubted me since what happened in February, and a lot of people didn’t believe I would win this fight. It’s just a lot of excitement.”
Preliminary struggle outcomes
In a welterweight bout, Joel Iriarte defeated Kevin Johnson by unanimous determination: 78-74, 80-72, 79-74.
Bantamweight Alexander Gueche was the winner towards Vincent Avina: 80-72, 80-72, 79-73.
At heavyweight, Joshua Edwards knocked out Dominic Hardy within the first spherical.
Tremendous featherweight René Alvarado beat Víctor Morales by unanimous determination: 96-94, 99-91, 99-91.
John Ramírez defeated Josué Jesús Morales at bantamweight by unanimous determination: 79-73, 80-72, 80-72.
This text first appeared in Spanish through L.A. Instances en Español.
