YouTube-celebrity-turned-boxer Jake Paul will headline a DAZN pay-per-view on June 28 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, facing erratic former middleweight titlist Julio César Chávez Jr. in an eight-round cruiserweight bout. Paul insists the matchup is “fan-demanded” and calls Chávez “a great fighter,” yet also vows to “embarrass him” and brand the Mexican an “exposure.”
On paper, the 39-year-old Chávez owns the slickest résumé Paul has ever touched, but context erodes the shine. Junior hasn’t beaten a notable boxer since Andy Lee in 2012, has quit on his stool twice, and has fought only once since losing to 47-year-old Anderson Silva in 2021. Meanwhile Paul is 2-1 in sanctioned bouts against actual boxers, both fringe journeymen. Beating this version of Chávez adds a “former world champion” sticker to Paul’s record, yet offers little evidence he can threaten true contenders.
The promotion’s tension hinges on whether Chávez arrives in shape. If he does, his chin and volume could ask questions Paul has never answered over eight rounds. If he doesn’t, Paul likely scores another highlight and continues branding himself as boxing’s crossover king while sidestepping genuine 190-lb threats. Either way, the fight tells us more about pay-per-view marketing than it does about pugilistic progression.
So, Paul can earn another payday and a veneer of legitimacy, but beating a faded Chávez Jr. proves only that the social-media star still knows how to pick the right opponents at the right time. Anything beyond that remains, for now, smoke and mirrors.
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Image Credit: DAZN