Jake Paul set to fight ex-champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 28

Jake Paul’s next opponent is a name with a great boxing tradition.

The 28-year-old content creator who became a professional boxer will be competing against the former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a 10-round cruiserweight fight planned to take place on June 28 as the main event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The set limit below which the fight will take place is 200 pounds, and it will be broadcast on DAZN pay-per-view. This is a joint effort promoted by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

By going up against a former world champion, Jake Paul's journey is now at a turning point, where he is no longer an easy figure for the sport to look away from. More than ever, with a challenge in the person of a former titleholder—and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.’s son—Paul wants his status as a serious boxing contender to be confirmed.

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Paul vs. Chavez Jr. set for DAZN pay-per-view

Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) was most recently victorious on points over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in November 2024—an event that made history by breaking Netflix's streaming records.

The victory that came at the age of 58, against an out-of-prime Mike Tyson, was just one of the wins that made Jake Paul on his way to becoming a title contender in 2025. Now, he will face the man with over 60 professional fights, Chavez Jr., a former champion with a colorful—and not so good—record.

“Five years ago, I stepped into the ring for my pro debut after a single amateur fight, and every fight since has been a step towards becoming world champion,” Paul said in a statement to ESPN. “I just defeated the baddest man on the planet, and now I'm going against a former champion who conman Canelo couldn’t finish.”

“Chavez Jr. is Mexican, but I, El Gallo De Dorado, have the will and heart of the great Mexican fighters,” he continued. “On Saturday, June 28, live on DAZN pay-per-view, I will knock out Julio and make Chávez Sr. proud in ways Jr. never has.”

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Chavez Jr. promises redemption

Chavez Jr. (54-6-1, 34 KOs), who is currently 39 years old, became the WBC middleweight champion in 2011 and held the title until 2012, when he was defeated by Sergio Martinez.

His path from the once best prospect in the sport to an inconsistent, overweight, and disappointing performer has been lined with bouts of poor performances. His early career was a 6-8 loss, his most heavy-handed defeat was against Canelo Alvarez in 2017, and The Spider (Anderson Silva), former UFC icon, topped the list of all.

Nevertheless, in the aforementioned match, Chavez scored a victory, beating Uriah Hall, a former MMA fighter, by a 6-round decision in July 2024. This fight was a warm-up fight for the Paul vs. Perry event.

“First of all, I will show what I can do now that everything is in the right place in my life—mentally and physically,” Chavez said in a statement to ESPN. “I feel rejuvenated and 10 years younger. Second, I want to thank MVP for taking the risk of fighting me. Unfortunately for their Problem Child, they're going to have a big problem this June—one they won’t know how to resolve.”

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MVP reveals Chavez was always a target

MVP co-creator Nakisa Bidarian made a statement to ESPN expressing the fact that Chavez used to be a target for the fight and he was actually supposed to fight Paul right after the Tyson event.

“Chavez Jr. has always been on the short list of fighters that Jake Paul has targeted,” Bidarian said. “After the Tyson fight, the original plan was to fight Chavez Jr. next. However, the Canelo opportunity presented itself and we paused discussions with Chavez.”

Paul has made an attempt to arrange the fight with Canelo Alvarez and Gervonta "Tank" Davis in the past but failed in both cases. As an alternative, Alvarez arranged a multi-fight deal with Riyadh Season, while it is known that Davis is about to look for a rematch with Lamont Roach Jr. following their controversial draw in March.

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Zurdo Ramirez vs. Yuniel Dorticos co-headlines

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) will be the star of the co-main event, in which he will defend his unified WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles against Yuniel Dorticos (27-2, 25 KOs).

It is notable that Ramirez, a fighter promoted by Golden Boy, was the WBO super middleweight titleholder before he went up in weight to take the cruiserweight WBO and WBA titles in 2024. Dorticos, who was a former unified champion and also a power puncher, went into the fight after having won in three of his previous bouts.

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Oscar De La Hoya joins forces with MVP

Oscar De La Hoya, the CEO of Golden Boy, was very pleased about the partnership with MVP.

Paul and De La Hoya have a common animosity with the CEO of the UFC, Dana White. The UFC 317 event is the chief International Fight Week show that White is associated with.

This event will also happen at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the same night, and thus, it will be yet another encounter between boxing and MMA that may not bring about a direct confrontation or engage the fans in a way that they want.

“I am excited to work with Oscar De La Hoya, who is the only former fighter to successfully operate a promotional company,” Bidarian added. “Like Jake Paul, Oscar has his haters, but that’s because both move the needle like very few do and are not afraid to speak their mind.”

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A defining moment for Paul—or Chavez Jr.'s resurgence?

Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., besides the fact that the interest would be primarily on the fight, would be an attraction beyond sports. There are a lot of reasons why the first fight might take place in the city of Anaheim, so the event will be back there on the 28th of June.

It will show whether Chavez has managed to gain the recognition of the world or Paul has the undisputedly best record. In any case, the main discussion will be whether the event will be held in Anaheim or not.