Bob Arum on Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr: “Not even boxing”

Shidonna Raven
4 days ago
2 min read

This Article has been curated by UDBN

May 19, 2025

At 93 years old, Bob Arum is still firing off strongly worded boxing takes. His latest target? Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr.

In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Arum declared that the fight was “not even boxing,” that he thought Chavez Jnr had retired a long time ago, and that Paul was “not a boxer.”

And that was just in his first sentence.

Though dramatic and exaggerated, his points aren’t without merit. Chavez has fought once since December 2021, winning a unanimous decision over former mixed martial artist Uriah Hall last July.

The Paul fight may be real boxing, but it will certainly get attention disproportionate to its quality. And Paul has been around the sport long enough by now that it’s glaringly obvious he has no intention of taking an even-money fight.

Once upon a time, Chavez was a world titleholder, though he was also infamous for his drastic rehydrations. (BoxingScene’s Kieran Mulvaney once called him “the best cruiserweight in the middleweight division” on an old episode of the defunct Ring Theory podcast.)

Since a listless 2017 loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in which Chavez lost every round, he has had one foot out of the sport, fighting just seven times and losing three of them and mostly fighting over scheduled distances shorter than 12 rounds.

Paul was last seen winning a decision against a 58-year-old Mike Tyson last November, which Arum called “demeaning for the sport of boxing.”

Arum did tip his hat to Paul, albeit in a roundabout way. Asked which Top Rank fighter would make an appealing matchup with Paul, Arum floated heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jnr and hard-punching former undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (who, as it happens, has previously called out Paul via social media).

“But Jake Paul is not fighting a real fighter,” Arum said. “Jake Paul is smarter than you and me combined! It’s not a scam, because people know what they’re getting, but he’s not interested in fighting somebody that would really give him a whipping.”

I don’t know if he has a full toolbox. But he sure is delivering the full fight fan experience.

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