Boxing: Jake Paul vs Chavez Jr: Start time, fight card and how to watch

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Seven months after his blockbuster fight against 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, YouTube celebrity boxer Jake Paul will return to the ring to face off against another former world champ, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Chavez Jr, 39, is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion who hasn’t held a major boxing title in 13 years and has fought just once in the last three and a half years. He’s also had some well-documented personal problems over the last few years.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Paul-Chavez bout:

What is the date and start time for the Paul-Chavez fight?

The fight night is on Saturday, June 28, with six undercard bouts before the main fight.

The ring walk for Paul-Chavez Jr is set for 8pm Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Saturday (03:00 GMT on Sunday) and the fight will begin shortly thereafter.

Where is Paul-Chavez being held?

The Honda Center in Anaheim, California, is the venue for the fight.

It has a seating capacity of about 7,000 for boxing events.

Wasn’t Paul supposed to fight Canelo Alvarez?

In February, Paul claimed Canelo Alvarez “ducked” a fight with him to sign a lucrative four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season, based out of Saudi Arabia.

In a video posted to his social media account, Paul showed what he said was a contract signed by himself and Alvarez for a fight to be held in Las Vegas on May 3.

“The truth is, you (Alvarez) could be bought,” Paul said at the time. “You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing, shady characters are paying you hundreds of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you.”

What problems has Chavez Jr had since becoming WBC world champion?

Chavez Jr, who last held a major boxing world title in 2012, has had a difficult time inside and outside the ring in recent years.

In November 2021, his shock defeat by split decision to 46-year-old former UFC fighter Anderson Silva in a crossover boxing match was undoubtedly the lowest – and most embarrassing – point of his professional boxing career. Coincidentally, Paul beat Silva in a fight last year.

The Mexican’s personal issues have included a lack of motivation, a repeated failure to make weight for fights, alcohol and drug addiction, an arrest for illegal possession of a firearm in his Los Angeles home and a failed drug test. At the launch of the Paul-Chavez fight in May at The Avalon in Hollywood, Paul mocked Chavez’s addiction problems as well as his “lack of mentality.”

“I’m going to embarrass him and run him down like he always does,” Paul said. “I’m going to expose him. He will be the embarrassment of Mexico. There are two things you can’t beat – me and your drug addiction.”

Who is Jake Paul?

Paul gained fame as a social media star on YouTube who turned into a boxer, and has an 11-1 record.

The 28-year-old is one of the sport’s top attractions despite not having a traditional fighting pedigree through a boxing association.

His fight last November with Tyson, which Paul won in an eight-round decision, peaked at a staggering 64 million concurrent streams on Netflix.

Jake Paul has made at least $60m since starting his boxing career, according to multiple sources.

Who is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr?

The son of Julio Cesar Chavez, a legendary three-division world champion, Chavez Jr has amassed a professional boxing record of 53 wins (34 KOs), six losses, and one draw over a 17-year career.

Chavez was crowned the WBC middleweight champion in 2011 after defeating Sebastian Zbik of Germany. He defended the title three times and was considered to be in the upper tier of middleweight boxers alongside fellow Mexican, Canelo Alvarez.

But a series of disappointing results, beginning with a loss to Sergio Martinez in 2012 through to a one-sided defeat to Alvarez in 2017, sent his career off the rails.

Chavez’s professional record is a mediocre 8-6 since 2012. Despite his many personal issues, Chavez Jr is still considered to be armed with an advanced boxing skillset that will be a step up in competition for the novice fighter Paul.

What has Paul said about the fight?

“I would say Chavez is most likely going to be the toughest opponent (I have faced yet), the most experienced, literally the most amount of fights out of all of my opponents,” Paul said during an interview with DAZN Boxing.

What has Chavez Jr said about the fight?

“Yes [I’m motivated to end Paul’s career],” Chavez Jr said on The Ariel Helwani podcast on June 18. “[I still think] that I’m better than Jake Paul, so I think after this fight maybe Jake continues to fight [and tries] to be a [better] boxer, but I don’t think he has [the] skills and everything [necessary to] win [against me]. I want to end Jake Paul’s career.”

Paul stats:

Nationality: American
Age: 28
Height: 6′ 1″ (1.85m)
Reach: 76″ (1.93m)
Total fights: 12
Record: 11-1 (7 KOs)

Chavez Jr stats:

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 39
Height: 6’0″ (1.83m)
Reach: 73″ (1.85m)
Total fights: 62
Record: 54-6-1 (1) (34 KOs)

Who is on the undercard?

The main undercard bouts are expected to begin at 5pm local Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Saturday (00:00 GMT on Sunday).

Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (cruiserweight)
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (C) vs Yuniel Dorticos (WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles)
Holly Holm vs Yolanda Vega (lightweight)
Floyd Schofield vs Tevin Farmer (lightweight)
Avious Griffin vs Julian Rodriguez (welterweight)
Raul “Cugar” Curiel vs Victor Ezequiel Rodriguez (welterweight)
Naomy Valle vs Ashley Felix (light-flyweight)