Jake Paul controlled and dominated former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for a 10-round unanimous decision on Saturday night in Anaheim, California, and improved to 12-1 in boxing.
Visibly bigger than the 39-year-old veteran, Paul was two steps ahead of him. It took Chavez Jr. three rounds to finally land something, but that never made sense. Paul couldn’t hurt Chavez Jr., but his jabs and uppercuts were enough to keep the veterans out of range and not able to make things happen.
Chavez Jr. was successful only in the ninth round, attacking his body with a left hook and an uppercut. He needed a 10th finish and was able to hold a good right hand that set up the crowd, but the pole didn’t go away. In the end, all three judges won it in favor of the younger boxer.
“It was perfect,” Paul said of his performance after the match. “I think I only hit 10 times. He really survived. I thought it was great. I went to the 10th round against the former world champion who didn’t stop. He was with Canelo (Alvarez), all these guys.
Paul said he wanted to return to the ring again “as soon as possible” and listed Gervonta Davis, Anthony Joshua, Gilberto Ramírez, Badou Jack and Tommy Fury as his opponents. However, he didn’t choose his favorites and made sure to give him props to Chavez Jr. to make it 10 rounds against him.
“He’s a tough, tough guy,” Paul said. “(Chavez Jr.) has never been stopped. He is a Mexican warrior. I respect Mexican warrior. I respect Mexico, but I am a warrior too, and I came to the top tonight.”