Jake Paul Finally Reveals Next Opponent is Former WBC Middleweight Champion

The wait is officially over, as Jake Paul has announced his next opponent. In an exclusive story on ESPN, Most Valuable Promotions revealed that Paul is set to take on the former WBC middleweight champion, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

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Paul shared the story to his X page, with a simple caption that reads "viva."

Chavez and Paul will throw down on June 28 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, in a 10-round fight that will be contested at 200 pounds. Paul's Most Valuable Promotions is co-promoting the fight with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.

Paul spoke on the fight announcement to ESPN, stating:

"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. I just defeated the baddest man on the planet, and now I'm going against a former champion who conman Canelo couldn't finish."

Paul enters this bout with an 11-1 record, while Chavez boasts a 54-6- record, with 34 of those victories coming by way of KO. Apart from taking on Mike Tyson, Chavez will be the most decorated boxer that Paul has ever faced.

Chavez most recently took on former UFC star Uriah Hall on July 20, 2024, winning by unanimous decision.

Chavez has held the WBC Continental Americas super welterweight title, WBC Latino super welterweight title, WBC Silver middleweight title, WBC middleweight title, and the WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title.

Chavez is the son of legendary Mexican boxer, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

Chavez also commented on the fight, stating,:

"First of all, I will show what I can do now that everything is in the right place in my life-mentally and physically," said Julio César Chávez Jr "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. Hopefully, when I beat him, people won't underestimate this win."

Paul was set to fight Canelo Alvarez, but the fight fell through. Paul spoke to Newsweek Sports about the fallout in an exclusive interview.

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"He went with the money play versus the legacy play of doing one of the biggest fights ever. Now he's fighting some random guy in Saudi. He snaked his fans and chose the money because they were threatening to pull his contract. The people over there don't want to see me to be the biggest name in boxing. So, that's the nature of the sport and the politics of the sport. At the end of the day, all of these rats want a bite of cheese. So, he's going to come back around and want to fight me again when he realizes his fights over there don't have any hype behind them," Paul stated.

Through that failed fight, Paul is now set to take on Chavez. He also stated he would like to fight Gervonta Davis at some point, along with Anthony Joshua, which is being talked about for 2026.

Either way, Paul continues to make leaps in the sport of boxing, and he will look to defeat Chavez to cement his legacy even further.

For more on Jake Paul, head to Newsweek Sports.