Boxing

Jake Paul Roasted By Boxing Fans Over 'Perfect' Next Opponent Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

Jake Paul is getting blasted by the boxing community after announcing his next opponent.
Grant Young|
Jake Paul during a press conference at Fanatics Fest in New York City on August 19, 2024.
Jake Paul during a press conference at Fanatics Fest in New York City on August 19, 2024. | IMAGO / Cover-Images

The most common criticism of Jake Paul's boxing career is that he often fights men much older than him and way past their primes. The reason for this is that Paul is a businessman first and foremost, and understands that the best way he can generate interest in his fights is by facing someone with a big name, regardless of their age.

There's no better proof of this than with Paul's last fight, when he fought a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, which peaked at a staggering 65 million concurrent streams on Netflix.

On April 17, news broke that Paul's next opponent will be Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, whom he'll face in a cruiserweight bout on June 28 in Anaheim, California.

While the age difference between Paul and Chavez Jr. (11 years) isn't as steep as the nearly 30-year age gap between Paul and Tyson, fans are still blasting Paul for fighting another guy who's significantly older than him.

"- Chavez is inactive
- Chavez has just left rehab
- Chavez lost to Silva
- Chavez is 39

"Perfect Jake Paul opponent," one fan wrote in a response to Paul's X post.

Another added, "Atleast you used to fight big names who were old and washed. Now you’re fighting an old washed dude no one cares about."

"Jake, you're fighting a guy who last held a title when you were still in high school.

"It's not that impressive," added a third.

It will be interesting to see how much hype this fight gets as the June 28 date approaches.

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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.