Boxing

Canelo Alvarez Sends Strong Warning to Jake Paul's Opponent Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

Canelo Alvarez sent a message to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. about fighting Jake Paul.
Grant Young|
IMAGO / Bildbyran

At one point in February, it seemed all but guaranteed that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez would be fighting Jake Paul this upcoming Cinco De Mayo weekend.

This sentiment came after both sides confirmed that they were at the final stages of signing a contract to fight before Turki Alalshikh came in and offered Canelo a four-fight deal he couldn't refuse. So Canelo left Paul at the altar, so to speak, and is instead fighting William Scull to unify the super-middleweight titles this weekend.

Paul then pivoted to trying to fight Gervonta "Tank" Davis, and when that pursuit went sour, he agreed to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 28 in Anaheim, California.

When Paul announced this fight on social media, one part of his X post read, "Now I’m going against a former world champion with 54 wins who Canelo could barely beat." This is a reference to Canelo fighting Chavez Jr. in May 2017.

However, despite what Paul said, Canelo dominated this fight and received a unanimous 120-108 victory on all three judges' scorecards. His post was even hit with a community note on X saying as much.

Even though they're no longer slated to fight, Canelo is still being asked about Jake Paul. And during an April 29 interview with Seconds Out, Canelo sent a strong message to Chavez Jr. about fighting Paul.

"Yeah. I hope, and I support obviously, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. And I hope he wins," Canelo said of the fight. "I hope he prepares himself very good, and takes it seriously, and beats him."

Canelo warning Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to take this fight against Paul seriously speaks volumes about how he sees this fight potentially playing out.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.