Pick it: Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr

When to Watch: Saturday, June 28. The main pay-per-view broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST). A free preliminary stream is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. BST).

Why to Watch: The circus is back in town.

Paul vs. Chavez isn’t for everyone. Though – to the chagrin of boxing purists – there has been more mainstream attention when Jake Paul fights than is the case for any other active fighter in the United States.

It will be difficult for any fight in the U.S. to top the audience that tuned in last November for Paul pulling the remnants of Mike Tyson out of retirement. And this match certainly won’t reach anywhere near as many viewers, given that Paul-Tyson was available for free on Netflix while Paul’s bout against the shell of Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr is on pay-per-view.

The 28-year-old Paul is a social media sensation with actual athletic ability who’s legitimately dedicated himself to boxing training, even though his choice of opposition has not been anywhere near as legitimate as his detractors would want. 

While compiling his record of 11-1 (7 KOs), Paul beat a retired basketball player; undersized and/or past-their-prime mixed martial artists, most notably the 47-year-old Anderson Silva in 2022; and lost a split decision to Tommy Fury, no world-beater himself, in February 2023.

One more MMA name followed before Paul took on two actual boxers, though Andre August and Ryan Bourland were naturally smaller than Paul at cruiserweight, plus their limits had already been shown in previous performances against nondescript opponents.

This writer foolishly thought Paul would finally have to step up the level of competition in order to keep audiences interested. And then, within two weeks of beating Bourland, Paul announced a fight with Mike Tyson.

The Tyson fight was pushed back due to the aged former heavyweight champion dealing with health issues. In place of “Iron” Mike Tyson Paul beat “Platinum” Mike Perry, an MMA fighter turned bare-knuckle boxer. Paul-Tyson still happened. Those four words are about the best I can do to describe the action. (If you want 2,000 words from me, here’s my column from immediately afterward.)

“We shouldn’t expect Paul to go after his fellow cruiserweights, bridgerweights or heavyweights just yet. Not as his first choice, at least. That’s too much risk for too little reward,” I wrote following the Tyson debacle. “He’ll keep going back to the well until the well runs dry.”

And Paul has dug way down and pulled out the bones of Chavez Jnr.

Chavez, 54-6-1 (34 KOs), of course capitalized on sharing a name with his legendary fighting father. And while the younger Chavez never approached a Hall of Fame career, he was once a legitimate world titleholder, besting Sebastian Zbik in 2011 for the WBC title at 160lbs and making three successful defenses against Peter Manfredo Jnr, Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee.

Chavez was never the best middleweight in the world. But he stepped in with his division’s champion, Sergio Martinez, in September 2012 and was getting shut out until the final round. That’s when Chavez brought the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas to its feet, dropping Martinez, who was able to survive and won the otherwise clear decision.

Nothing Chavez has done since has approached those 15 months of his career. And he hasn’t done much anyway in the past nearly 13 years.

He moved up in weight and took a pair of decisions over Brian Vera, the first one controversial. He stepped up to light heavyweight and called it a night after nine rounds with Andrzej Fonfara. He fought once in 2016, once in 2017 (a shutout loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez), not at all in 2018, and twice in 2019, including remaining in his corner after five rounds with Daniel Jacobs.

He lost a technical decision to Mario Cazares in 2020, picked up a win over an unheralded foe two months later, and then dropped a split decision to the aforementioned Anderson Silva, who was 46 years old at the time, in June 2021. Since then, Chavez has boxed just twice. There was a unanimous decision over the 34-6 David Zegarra at the end of 2021, then nothing until July 2024, when he pulled a Paul, outpointing former MMA fighter Uriah Hall over six rounds on the undercard of Paul-Perry.

Chavez is now 39 years old. He is 13 years past his short-lived prime at a weight class 40 pounds below where this match with Paul is taking place.

It’s understandable, then, if the main event isn’t your style. At least there’s the rest of the show at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The co-feature will see Gilberto Ramirez defend his WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles against Yuniel Dorticos. 

Ramirez, 47-1 (30 KOs), unified those two belts in November with an excellent unanimous decision victory over Chris Billam-Smith. Ramirez wants to become the undisputed champion at 200lbs, which would necessitate collisions with Jai Opetaia (IBF/lineal) and Badou Jack (WBC). Of course, Ramirez also wouldn’t turn down the significant payday that would come with a Jake Paul spectacle.

Dorticos, 27-2 (25 KOs), is a former titleholder himself whose only defeats have come against two of the best cruisers of recent years. His time with a secondary WBA belt came to an end with a 12th-round TKO loss to Murat Gassiev in 2018. Dorticos captured the vacant IBF title in 2019 by knocking out the previously unbeaten Andrew Tabiti. However, Dorticos’ reign ended with his first defense 15 months later, when he dropped a majority decision to Mairis Briedis in 2020. Dorticos has only fought three times since then and was last in the ring in June 2024.

The rest of the PPV will feature a lightweight bout between Floyd Schofield, 18-0 (12 KOs), and Tevin Farmer, 33-8-1 (8 KOs); a welterweight bout between Avious Griffin, 17-0 (16 KOs), and Julian Rodriguez, 23-1 (14 KOs); and a welterweight bout between Raul Curiel, 15-0-1 (13 KOs), and Victor Ezequiel Rodriguez, 16-0-1 (9 KOs).

A free preliminary stream is headlined by Holly Holm, 33-2-3 (9 KOs), who is returning to boxing after 12 years away from this sport, though that time was spent competing in MMA, mostly within the UFC. Holm will face Yolanda Guadalupe Vega Ochoa, 10-0 (1 KO). 

Also on the prelims in separate bouts are junior bantamweight John “Scrappy” Ramirez, 14-1 (9 KOs); junior lightweight prospect Victor Morales, 20-0-1 (10 KOs); welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte, 7-0 (7 KOs); and bantamweight prospect Alexander Gueche, 7-0 (5 KOs).

More Fights to Watch

Friday, June 27: Deontay Wilder vs. Tyrrell Herndon (BLK Prime and PPV.com)

The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. BST).

Wilder, 43-4-1 (42 KOs), had his five-year run as a heavyweight titleholder come to an end in 2020. In the five years since, he has gone 1-3. Wilder fought valiantly in a war with Tyson Fury in their third fight in October 2021, trading knockdowns and heavy blows before succumbing in the 11th round.

There was little shame in losing to the best heavyweight in the world at the time and perhaps being no worse than second-best. But the damage Wilder took in his two defeats to Fury, plus inactivity, plus the slowing that comes with age, began to show. Wilder understandably took a year to recover from Fury, returning with a one-round win over Robert Helenius in October 2022.

Wilder didn’t fight again for another 14 months, which means he’d had all of three minutes of in-ring time in a span of more than two years. He was outboxed in a decision loss to Joseph Parker in December 2023 and then suffered a highlight-reel KO at the hands of Zhilei Zhang in June 2024.

So it’s been another year away for Wilder, who is now 39 years old. The American Dream personified from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, says he never thought about retiring. Which means he is rebuilding, starting with this show at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. How much does he have left? We won’t know the answer to that if Wilder wins easily over the unheralded Herndon. The process has to start somewhere, after all. But if Wilder struggles or loses, then that’s another story. 

Herndon, 24-5 (15 KOs), is a 37-year-old from San Antonio, Texas. Often we can look at a fighter’s losses and see their limits. Sometimes we can also look at their wins and get even greater context.

Let’s start with the losses: In 2017 came knockouts at the hands of the 4-1-1 Shamarian Snider (KO3) and a debuting Efe Ajagba (KO1). Next, in 2018, came a third-round disqualification loss to Brandon Glanton, who now competes at cruiserweight. In 2019, Herndon failed to make it out of the first round against the 2-4-2 Corey Barlow. Herndon then had his longest undefeated stretch before getting dispatched in two rounds by a young Richard Torrez Jnr in October 2023.

Since then? There have been three victories: a two-round TKO over a 7-3 foe, and split decisions over opponents with records of 8-9 and 7-0-1. Only four of Herndon’s 24 victories have come against fighters with more wins than losses on their records. The combined record of the boxers he’s beaten is 113-145-3.

The undercard includes a few recognizable names. Lateef Kayode, 22-5 (17 KOs), well past his best days as a cruiserweight title challenger, is now 42 years old and a heavyweight. His opponent is Gustavo Trujillo, 7-0 (6 KOs). Former cruiserweight prospect Deon Nicholson, 21-1 (17 KOs), is competing these days as a light heavyweight; he faces Devonte Williams, 13-1 (6 KOs). 

Nico Hernandez, 11-0 (4 KOs), who earned bronze for the United States in the 2016 Olympics, is fighting for the first time in two years. His foe in this junior bantamweight bout is Robert Ledesma, 3-14-1 (2 KOs). And Kansas’ own Marco Romero, a super middleweight prospect who is 8-0 (7 KOs), will take on Andre Amaro, 2-0 (2 KOs).

Friday, June 27: Christian Mbilli vs. Maciej Sulecki (ESPN+ and PunchingGrace.com)

The broadcast begins at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. BST).

Mbilli, 28-0 (23 KOs), has received the spotlight as one of the next potential contenders in a super middleweight division where there is a significant gap between champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and everyone else.

Just a couple of months ago, Mbilli was ranked No. 1 by the WBA and WBC, No. 2 by the WBO, and was ordered to take part in an IBF title eliminator against Kevin Lele Sadjo. That elimination bout fell out, and when Mbilli and his team decided to compete for the WBC’s interim belt at 168lbs, the other three sanctioning bodies dropped him from their ratings, as is their practice.

The 30-year-old hails from Cameroon and fights these days out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He will be headlining for the second straight time at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.

His last outing there was 10 months ago, when Mbilli won a wide decision over perpetual bridesmaid Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who hurt his biceps muscle early in the bout. That victory ended Mbilli’s three-fight knockout streak, which saw him victimize the 26-5-1 Demond Nicholson in four rounds, the 27-2 Rohan Murdock in sick rounds, and the 30-3-1 Mark Heffron in 40 seconds. Prior to this KO streak, Mbilli won on points over gatekeeper Carlos Gongora.

It would be lovely to see Mbilli in with his fellow contenders — such as the winner of Edgar Berlanga-Hamzah Sheeraz, Osleys Iglesias, Bektemir Melikuziev, the winner of Diego Pacheco-Trevor McCumby, Armando Resendiz and Sadjo, among others. Instead, the WBC selected Maciej Sulecki for this elimination bout.

Sulecki, 33-3 (13 KOs), is a 36-year-old from Poland who resuscitated his career in February with a 10th-round stoppage of the 23-1 Ali Akhmedov in Akhmedov’s home country of Kazakhstan. All three judges had Sulecki clearly ahead going into that final round.

Six months before that win, Sulecki had suffered his latest defeat, suffering a sixth-round body shot knockout against Pacheco. His other two losses came at middleweight against Daniel Jacobs by unanimous decision in 2018 and Demetrius Andrade via shutout in 2019. 

This could be Sulecki’s final shot. Then again, he could stick around even if he falls short for the fourth time, serving as a somewhat familiar name who can compete in the second and third tiers at 168lbs.

The co-feature bout is a rematch between super middleweights Steven Butler, 35-5-1 (29 KOs), and Jose de Jesus Macias, 29-13-4 (15 KOs). When they first met at middleweight in January 2021, de Jesus Macias won via TKO5. Butler has gone 7-2 since, losing via TKO to Janibek Alimkhanuly and Patrice Volny; de Jesus Macias has gone 1-3-1, dropping decisions to Pavel Silgayin, Erik Bazinyan and Callum Simpson.

Also on this show: a heavyweight fight between Arslanbek Makhmudov, 19-2 (18 KOs), and Ricardo Brown, 12-0 (11 KOs); a junior welterweight bout between Leila Beaudoin, 12-1 (1 KO) and former title challenger Elhem Mekhaled, 17-3 (3 KOs); and several prospect in separate matches, including junior welterweight Jhon Orobio, 13-0 (11 KOs), super middleweight Wilkens Mathieu, 13-0 (9 KOs), welterweight Christopher Guerrero, 14-0 (8 KOs), and junior welterweight Wyatt Sanford, 2-0 (2 KOs), who won a bronze medal in the 2024 Olympics.

Saturday, June 28: Jean Pascal vs. Michal Cieslak (TrillerTV)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight BST).

This fight for the WBC’s interim cruiserweight title was originally supposed to feature Cieslak and Yamil Peralta. When that fight wasn’t made, the WBC instead sanctioned a bout between Cieslak, ranked fifth, and Pascal, who had been unrated before conveniently landing the 10th slot in the WBC’s May 12 update.

Pascal, 37-7-1 (21 KOs), is 42 years old, two decades into his professional career and well past his prime. He’s been around so long that he fought Brian Norman – Snr, that is – back when Brian Norman Jnr was 7 years old. (To be fair, I am a few months older than Pascal.)

It’s been quite a career for Pascal, born in Haiti and long since a star in the Canadian province of Quebec. Soon after losing a decision to Carl Froch in a vacant super middleweight title fight in 2008, Pascal moved up to 175lbs and fought through an injured shoulder to capture the WBC light heavyweight belt from Adrian Diaconu in 2009. He then beat Chad Dawson in 2010 to become the new lineal champion.

Pascal’s reign as king didn’t last much longer. Bernard Hopkins held Pascal to a draw in December 2010 and then dethroned him via unanimous decision in their 2011 rematch. Pascal earned a win over fellow Quebecois headliner Lucian Bute in 2014 and suffered a pair of stoppage losses to Sergey Kovalev in 2015 and 2016. Decision defeats to Eleider Alvarez in 2017 and Dmitry Bivol in 2018 seemed to signify that his time as a contender was at an end.

But then came a pair of victories in 2019 that could have resurrected Pascal’s career: a technical decision over Marcus Browne to win a secondary WBA title and a split decision over Badou Jack to retain it. 

And then came a pair of big setbacks. The coronavirus pandemic put Pascal and much of the sport on the sideline. Several positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs kept Pascal out.

Pascal returned in May 2022, outpointing the previously undefeated Fanlong Meng. He lost to the unheralded 11-1 Michael Eifert in a March 2023 bout for which the IBF somehow deemed worthy of awarding a light heavyweight title shot to the winner (Eifert has yet to cash in on that shot). Pascal spent another 18 months away before taking on Terry Osias in September 2024. Both men came in at less than 190lbs, and Pascal knocked Osias out in the 10th and final round.

That, and a 2018 win over a mixed martial artist named Steve Bosse, is all Pascal has done in recent years at cruiserweight. It’s no wonder he wasn’t even in the WBC’s top 40, never mind its top 15, until he was available and there were sanctioning fees that the organization could cash in on. But perhaps he will turn back the clock against Cieslak the way that Hopkins twice did against Pascal.

And if he does? The WBC has called for the winner of Pascal-Cieslak to face Peralta, as well as mandating a rematch of Jack’s May majority decision over Noel Mikaelyan.

Cieslak, 27-2 (21 KOs), is a 36-year-old from Poland who has twice challenged for cruiserweight titles. He landed his first shot after winning two fights in 2019 against Youri Kalenga (TKO7) and Olanrewaju Durodola (TKO2). With the vacant WBC cruiserweight belt on the line, Cieslak fell short against Ilunga Makabu in January 2020, losing a unanimous decision.

After two bounce-back wins, Cieslak got a second chance, losing to WBO titleholder Lawrence Okolie in February 2022. He’s since triumphed in six fights, all by knockout, including a three-round win over former light heavyweight contender Felix Valera last October.

The undercard includes a cruiserweight fight between two aforementioned fighters: Browne (who lost to Pascal) and Durodola (who lost to Cieslak).

Browne, 25-2 (16 KOs), has fought just once since his knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev in December 2021. It’s been more than 22 months since Browne moved up to cruiser to widely outpoint the 13-1-1 Adrian Taylor in August 2023. He’s only 34 years old, so there may still be mileage left on Browne’s engine.

Durodola, meanwhile, is 44 years old with a record of 50-10 (44 KOs). There is a distinct pattern to the former contender’s career these days. Durodola will stay busy and beat a bunch of lesser opposition, then will take on a more familiar, more formidable name and suffer defeat. Durodola was last dispatched by cruiserweight contender Ryan Rozicki in just 107 seconds in December 2023. Seven wins have followed, the most recent coming in March, when Durodola sent the 8-2 Simon Olayinka packing after one round.

Also on this show, middleweight Patrice Volny, 19-2 (13 KOs), returns from his March decision loss to Austin “Ammo” Williams. Volny will face Mponda Kalunga, 11-2 (3 KOs).

Saturday, June 28: Shakan Pitters vs. Bradley Rea (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. BST).

Pitters, 20-2 (7 KOs), is a 35-year-old light heavyweight from Birmingham, England, whose past few fights have come four to seven pounds over the limit, though the 6-foot-6 fighter will be squeezing back to 175lbs for this bout at Connexin Live Hull in Hull, England.

Both of Pitters’ defeats came against familiar names: a ninth-round TKO against Craig Richards in 2020 and a unanimous decision against Dan Azeez in 2022. He was twice supposed to have a European-level clash earlier this year with the 22-1 Daniel Blenda Dos Santos. First in February, the French fighter pulled out first with a failed brain scan — which later tests showed was an error. Then Pitters-Dos Santos was rescheduled for April, and this time Pitters had to exit with a torn chest muscle. 

That means Pitters’ last outing was a February drubbing of a late replacement foe, the 4-23-4 Bahadur Kurami.

Rea, 20-1 (10 KOs), has been similarly snakebitten. He was supposed to face Dos Santos in April, stepping in when Pitters suffered that aforementioned chest injury. But just hours before the fight, Dos Santos canceled due to illness. That was the second fight that fell apart for Rea this year; a hurt opponent meant he didn’t fight on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II. Rea was last in the ring in November, making short work of the 4-1 Adam Hepple.

It could have been even worse for both Pitters and Rea. Their bout was originally supposed to take place on June 28 as part of another show in Ireland, but it was relocated to England when that event was called off.

Also on this card: Middleweight Shakiel Thompson, 14-0 (10 KOs), will take on an opponent still to be determined; and junior welterweight Sean McComb, 18-2 (5 KOs), will return from last year’s controversial loss to Arnold Barboza. McComb’s foe is also TBA.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter. David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.