Jake Paul can now say that he has beaten a legitimate boxer who was a former world champion.
Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) earned a ten-round unanimous decision over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (54-7-1, 34 KOs) in the main event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. The judges saw this one 99-91, 97-93, and 98-92 for Paul, who didn’t seem to struggle at all with Chavez Jr.
According to CompuBox, “Chavez Jr out-landed Paul 29-27 over the last two rounds, but that was not enough to overcome being out-worked over the first eight rounds. Paul averaged 48 punches thrown and 14 punches landed over ten rounds, while Chavez Jr averaged 15 and 6 respectively. In only two of the ten rounds did Chavez Jr throw more than 25 punches, while Paul threw at least 39 punches in every round. 69% of Paul’s power punch connects were body shots.”
In the opening round, Paul was touching Chavez Jr with his left jab and would occasionally throw the overhand right. Chavez Jr. barely threw any punches and mainly used a high guard to avoid being caught by anything significant. Paul continued dictating the pace with his left jab and mixed in a right uppercut, which forced Chavez Jr. back onto the ropes. The crowd began to boo Chavez Jr. as he barely threw any punches.
Paul was doing all the work in the third round, which led Chavez Sr. to get out of his seat and yell at his son to throw punches. Chavez Jr. was moving around with a high guard but not throwing many punches. In the fourth round, Chavez Jr finally woke up and threw a couple of combinations and a left hook to the body. Up to this point of the fight, it was the most active he had been. Paul was keeping his distance and using his left jab to frustrate Chavez Jr.
Chavez Jr continued to struggle in the fifth round as he was throwing one punch at a time. He was moving in without throwing any punches, which allowed Paul to move away without being hit. Chavez Jr. got a roar from the crowd when he landed a left hook that rocked Paul’s head back in the sixth round. Chavez Jr would follow it up with some more combinations, but Paul used his feet to get out of the corner without getting hit anymore.
Paul settled things to his favor in the seventh round as Chavez Jr appeared a little gassed from the previous round. Paul would land a right uppercut, which was the best punch of the round. The eighth round saw Chavez Jr have a little success, but again, it was in small doses, and Paul dictated the action throughout the round.
In the ninth round, Chavez Jr landed a huge right hand that nearly folded Paul, but he took it well. Paul was buzzed from the shot, and Chavez followed it with a left hook and a straight right hand, but it was towards the end of the round. Paul was able to survive the late surge. Chavez Jr. kept the momentum from the previous round and landed a ton of punches on Paul, who appeared completely gassed. Even so, Chavez Jr. was unable to knock him down, leading to the crowd in the arena hearing the final bell.
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