Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. result, full fight highlights, next fight, reaction

The idea of Jake Paul fighting for a world title may make some people cringe, but the YouTube sensation turned professional boxer has inched closer towards that far-fetched dream becoming a reality.

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Paul improved his overall record to 12-1 on Sunday with a unanimous decision victory over former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who the 28-year-old insisted was his “toughest test” and “most experienced fighter to date”.

The extent to which it was a legitimate challenge for Paul can be debated. After all, at 39 years old this version of Chavez is long removed from the one that captured a world title all the way back in 2011.

That was clear in the opening round, when Chavez failed to land a single punch and it was one-way traffic from there, not that Paul had to do much anyway to easily get ahead on the scorecards.

Paul continued to cruise until Chavez started to at least make it a contest in the later rounds, but it was far too late as the American claimed it 99-91, 97-93, 98-92 on the scorecards.

Paul called it “easy work” in his post-fight interview, delivering a message to the booing crowd while also calling out Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, Badou Jack, Anthony Joshua, and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

“You all can shut the f*** up. I’m him. I’m really him,” he said.

All of the pressure was on Paul, who last fought against Mike Tyson late last year, to prove he deserves a shot against unified cruiserweight champion Ramirez, who defended his belts against Yuniel Dorticos in Sunday’s co-main event.

That world title shot still may be at least a few fights away for Paul, but the goal on Sunday was to make enough a statement against Chavez to earn WBC and WBA ranking.

Now, after Sunday’s win, Paul may well have earned his ranking on the way to a potential title shot in 2026.

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