KOs

It took Julio César Chávez Jr. three rounds to throw an accurate punch, three more to show he was awake and three more to remember he could fight. The Mexican boxer’s effort was not enough and he lost by unanimous decision to Jake Paul, who showed many defensive deficiencies that Chávez — a former middleweight champion — did not take advantage of.

While Chávez was slowly reacting to his opponent, Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) was scoring points, forcing the son of Mexican legend Julio César Chávez to row against the current in the bout’s final rounds. Julio César Chávez Jr. seemed disconnected in the early rounds and spent time complaining to the referee about alleged headbutts and ill-intentioned punches from his opponent.

“I reacted too late,” said Chávez (54-7-1, 34 KOs) after Saturday night’s bout at the Honda Center in Anaheim, where his frustrated father was among the fans. Julio César Chávez frequently stood up from his seat and shouted directions 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. said of Paul — a YouTube star turned boxer — after the loss.

Despite his poor start and loss, Chávez was not booed. Paul earned that right from the first moment cameras captured his walk to the ring before the fight began.

The decibels erupted when Paul appeared wearing the colors of the Mexican flag on his robe as he walked to the ring to the rhythm of Kilo’s “Dance Like a Cholo.”

“It’s one of the songs I used to dance to when I was a kid,” Paul said during a news conference after the fight.

Paul did it, he said, 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 / Associated Press)

After speaking with reporters, Paul improvised a face-off when he crossed paths with Gilberto Ramirez, the evening’s co-main event. Ramirez is the World Boxing Assn. (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight champion after defending his belts against Cuba’s Yuniel Dorticos.

Ramirez is not exactly a fighter known for creating an intense pre-fight atmosphere, but he presents another opportunity for Paul to cement himself as a legitimate boxer. Paul has said he has faced difficulty scheduling fights after his unconventional move 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 said. “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 consistently criticized for not facing trained boxers. Chávez was just the third boxer Paul has faced in his 13 fights since debuting in January 2020. In 2024, 58-year-old legend Mike Tyson was the second fighter he faced.

Paul’s only loss came at 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 said, reflecting on his start in 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 today and now I’m moving on to chapter two. … People still hold the Tommy Fury fight against me, but now I’ve beaten a former world champion and I’m coming to collect on that loss to Tommy.”

Jake Paul, right, punches Julio César Chávez Jr. during their cruiserweight boxing match on Saturday at the Honda Center.

(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)

In the co-feature, Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) defended his cruiserweight titles against mandatory challenger Dorticos (27-3, 25 KOs). Ramirez won by unanimous decision after the judges’ scorecards read 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 said.

He is eager to lock in a unification fight against International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Jai Opetaia.

“We’re going to unify titles,” Ramirez said. “I just had to follow my plan, listen to my corner and get the job done, that’s all.”

Although Ramirez entered the fight as the favorite to defend his belts, the Mexican was slow, allowing the scores to be closer than expected. Dorticos was decisive in the early rounds, but as time went on, Ramirez made up ground. Dorticos lost a point after the referee penalized him for connecting consecutive low blows.

Making her return to professional boxing after a 12-year absence, former UFC champion and ring veteran Holly Holm (34-2-3, 9 KOs) faced undefeated Mexican Yolanda Vega Ochoa (10-1, 1 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Holm dominated from the start, setting the pace with her jab, controlling her opponent’s attack and using precise combinations. Vega opted to press, but landed constant clean punches and was unable to connect meaningful combinations that would turn the tide of the fight.

Holm won by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 100-90. Her performance was resounding because of her tactical control, mobility and ability to neutralize Vega’s offense, who was unable to break her strategy or avoid 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 said. “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 great combination and a powerful uppercut, Mexican Raúl Curiel (16-0-1, 14 KOs) knocked down Uruguayan Victor Rodríguez (16-1-1, 9 KOs) in the fourth round and although the Uruguayan managed to get to his feet, he did not have the power to stop an onslaught from Curiel. The referee stopped the fight at the 2:09 mark during the fourth round.

The fight determined the mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Assn. (WBA) welterweight title.

“It was an eliminator for the title, so I pushed myself,” said Curiel, a Tampico, Tamaulipas, native. “I knew it would end in knockout. I didn’t know which round, but knockout. I was strong.”

Rodríguez finished the fight in bad shape, with his nose injured and one eye swollen and bleeding.

Now Curiel wants to fight Rolando Romero, the WBA welterweight champion who most recently beat Ryan Garcia by unanimous decision in May.

“With whoever, whatever champion is available,” Curiel said. “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 lost his undefeated record and at times appeared to be in control of the bout. With five seconds left in the 10th round, Rodríguez knocked Griffin down in such a way that he almost knocked him out of the ring.

The fight was mostly evenly matched and two of the judges had the bout as a draw, while the third gave Rodríguez the win by two points.

“All the sacrifice, all the pain to get to this point,” Rodriguez, who was clearly exhausted, said in the ring. “It was pure emotion. Now I’ll be back in the gym in the next two or three weeks.”

In a lightweight bout, Floyd Schofield (19-0, 13 KOs) wasted no time and in just 78 seconds of the first round took out veteran Tevin Farmer (33-9-1, 8 KOs). Schofield knocked Farmer down twice and the referee stopped the bout at the 1:18 mark.

In February, Schofield had a fight scheduled against World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Shakur Stevenson in Saudi Arabia, but he was unable to make it because he was hospitalized twice before that bout. Schofield has not explained the reasons for his hospitalization.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Schofield said 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 fight results

In a welterweight bout, Joel Iriarte defeated Kevin Johnson by unanimous decision: 78-74, 80-72, 79-74.

Bantamweight Alexander Gueche was the winner against Vincent Avina: 80-72, 80-72, 79-73.

At heavyweight, Joshua Edwards knocked out Dominic Hardy in the first round.

Super featherweight René Alvarado beat Víctor Morales by unanimous decision: 96-94, 99-91, 99-91.

John Ramírez defeated Josué Jesús Morales at bantamweight by unanimous decision: 79-73, 80-72, 80-72.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

One of Jake Paul’s nicknames is the “Problem Child,” but that nickname could just as easily fit Julio César Chávez Jr.

After becoming World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion of the world in 2011, Chávez defended his crown three times and came to be considered on the same level as his contemporary Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez. But a disappointing loss to Sergio Martínez in 2012, lack of discipline needed to train properly and make weight, as well as a crushing defeat to Álvarez in 2017, sent his career into a free fall.

From 2019-21, he picked up three losses in four fights, including falling to former champion Daniel Jacobs and mixed martial arts veteran Anderson Silva.

Now at 39, Chávez will face Youtuber turned boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight contest scheduled for June 28 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Chávez (54-6-1, 34 KOs) has fought 61 professional bouts since his debut in 2003 and could be the toughest test of Paul’s (11-1, 7 KOs) career to date, although it all depends on the level of the Mexican’s fitness for the matchup.

Boxers Jake Paul, left, and Julio César Chávez Jr. point at each other during a news conference while promoter Oscar De La Hoya watches at the Avalon Hollywood Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Paul and Chávez will fight in June in Anaheim.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

During a press event held at The Avalon in Hollywood on Wednesday, Paul strongly criticized Chávez while mentioning the addiction problems Chávez has faced as well as his “lack of mentality.”

“I’m going to embarrass him and run him down like he always does,” Paul said. “I’m going to expose him. He will be the embarrassment of Mexico. There are two things you can’t beat — me and your drug addiction.”

Outside the ring, Chávez’s personal life has not been free of problems. The Culiacan native was arrested in January of last year in Los Angeles and charged with illegal possession of weapons, specifically an assault rifle, which was found in his home. He eventually pleaded not guilty and committed to entering a rehabilitation program.

On Wednesday, the legendary Julio César Chávez Sr. stood by his son’s side to support him in the face of Paul’s verbal attacks. For Chávez Sr., if his son continues to train the way he has seen him lately, the American doesn’t stand a chance. Chávez Jr. will be looking to be the second opponent to beat Paul after Tommy Fury scored a win in 2023.

“He’s an overrated fighter. He hasn’t fought anybody. He only fights old guys,” said Chávez Jr., who added he will arrive in Anaheim as the best version of himself and that the first five rounds will be difficult, but that he will tip the scales in his favor from the seventh round on.

Chávez Sr., as on many occasions, has mentioned that his son is training like never before.

“There is no way Jake Paul can beat my son, the way he is training,” Chávez Sr. said.

Paul responded he could beat Chávez Jr. and his legendary father, criticizing Chávez Jr.’s lack of discipline.

Boxer Jake Paul insulted Julio César Chávez Jr. during a news conference at the Avalon Hollywood Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

“It’s not a champion’s mentality to only train hard when you have a big fight. I train hard every time I have a fight, no matter who I’m facing. That teaches you the type of person he is,” Paul said.

After the news conference, Chávez Jr. noted that he expected Paul to pick on his dad, but understood it was a mental tactic by his opponent.

“In boxing you learn step by step, and he is missing several,” Chávez Jr. said.

Paul, a 28-year-old from Cleveland, will return to the ring since he last fought in November, when he outpointed heavyweight legend Mike Tyson in an eight-round bout in Arlington, Texas. The event disappointed many due to a lack of competitiveness from 58-year-old “Iron Mike.”

During this fight, Paul will likely have much of the crowd against him by choosing to fight a Mexican star in Southern California, although he believes there are many who will support him.

“Mexicans love me. People love me more than they love him. Mexico doesn’t even love him. I’m going to show him who the real Mexican warrior is,” Paul said.

Boxers Julio César Chávez Jr., left, and his father, Julio César Chávez Sr., sit beside each other during a news conference Wednesday.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

The showdown between Paul and Chávez Jr. comes after a proposed showdown between the Youtuber and Álvarez fell apart earlier this year.

Paul could be close to a fight against Álvarez, although before that he could consider a matchup against Mexico’s Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez, who will be defending his cruiserweight crown against Cuban Yuniel Dorticos (27-2, 25 KOs) on the Anaheim card.

“He has done a good job. Maybe someday we can fight for titles. Now I’m the champion,” Ramírez, 33, said about facing Paul.

Ramírez (47-1, 30 KOs) said he would prefer to unify the Boxing Assn. title against Jai Opetaia, the International Boxing Federation champion. But before that, he will have to dispatch Dorticos, who is known for his powerful punch.

“Los Angeles is going to shake. The knockout doctor is back,” said Dorticos, 39.

The card is promoted by Most Valuable Promotions in conjunction with Golden Boy Promotions, and will air on pay-per-view via DAZN.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.