Jake Paul’s dedication to boxing could be the turning point in his fight with former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr this Saturday.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul is being heavily favored to defeat Chavez Jr, who is a former middleweight world champion with wins over the likes of Andy Lee. The 54-6-1 boxer is a son of a legend in Julio Cesar Chavez, but is believed to have taken his natural talent for granted over the years.
At 39-years-old and ballooned up to cruiserweight from his best days at 160lb, Chavez Jr is clearly past his best. And veteran boxing analyst Max Kellerman believes the fight is yet another example of Paul making a fight that looks good on paper, but is in fact a very favorable matchup.
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Max Kellerman explains why Jake Paul beats Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
Jake Paul has managed to make all of his fights exciting spectacles, at least before actually stepping in the ring. His meeting with Mike Tyson was an historic and record-breaking event that even crashed Netflix servers, but failed to deliver once punches actually started flying.
But Max Kellerman, who has been an analyst of boxing for years across almost every major broadcaster, believes he is just a good salesman. And in an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow he confirmed that he feels Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is another opponent who looks good until the actual fight itself.
“I don’t know,” Kellerman replied when asked outright who he feels would win the fight. “Jake Paul is very good at promoting fights that capture the imagination of the public. But he does that by picking opponents where you’d be like ‘oh, maybe he loses this one’.
“But Jake is a dedicated fighter and Chavez Jr has not been. This is even though Chavez Jr has competed at a much higher level in boxing. But Jake is dedicated and Chavez Jr’s track record tells you that he’s not as dedicated.”
There is a belief that if the Mexican does show up as even half of his former self, he should have too much for Paul, who began his training for white collar celebrity boxing in just 2018. However, Kellerman isn’t so sure that it will be enough against a much bigger and more active fighter 12 years his junior.
“Jake is a larger guy naturally and like I said, he is a dedicated fighter,” Kellerman continued. “Chavez has not been.”
Jake Paul will earn world ranking with win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
Should Jake Paul do enough to land the victory, he is expected to finally land in the world rankings with the WBC. He has already been talking about a title fight with cruiserweight champion Badou Jack, and could become eligible if ranked after having multiple ten-round bouts.
Speaking with Action Network, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said that he feels a ranking would be deserved if Paul gets himself to 12-1 on Saturday night. “My personal opinion is yes,” he replied when asked if a victory would land him a spot.
“We do have a rankings committee, but I believe he has done enough and he has received all the backlash for several years. If he beats Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, I think that puts him in a different position.”