Jake Paul now finds himself ranked amongst the elite cruiserweights in world boxing with his latest victory against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. taking his professional record to 12-1. This significant win, which occurred on June 28, 2025, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, marked a pivotal moment in Paul’s burgeoning boxing career.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) officially ranked ‘The Problem Child’ 14th in its latest world rankings following this victory, making the former YouTuber-turned-boxer eligible as a mandatory title challenger for world champion Gilberto Ramirez.
Ramirez himself retained his WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles on the event’s undercard, securing a unanimous decision victory over Cuban contender Yuniel Dorticos.
Paul secured a unanimous decision victory over former WBC World middleweight champion Chavez Jr. in the latest boxing circus designed to position the American within striking distance of a shot at world honours. The judges’ scorecards read 99-91, 97-93, and 98-92 in favor of Paul after 10 rounds of action.
Following the win, the 28-year-old wasted no time in calling out a range of opponents, from lightweight champions to heavyweight contenders, ensuring he stays firmly in the conversation among both boxing purists and casual fans alike.
“I want tougher fighters, I want to be world champion. Zurdo (Ramirez) looked slow as sh*t tonight, that would be easy work too, Badou Jack I want everybody, Anthony Joshua, Gervonta (Davis) and Tommy (Fury) stop running.”
The Event: Paul vs. Chavez Jr. and Ramirez vs. Dorticos
The highly anticipated event on June 28, 2025, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, delivered on its promise of significant boxing action. Jake Paul, with a pre-fight record of 11 wins and 1 loss, faced his most experienced opponent to date in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., whose record stood at 54 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw.
Paul, fighting out of an orthodox stance, utilized his jab and bodywork effectively throughout the 10-round cruiserweight contest. Chavez Jr., an orthodox fighter with a career spanning over two decades, struggled with inactivity in the early rounds, failing to land a single punch in the opening round. While Chavez Jr. showed some urgency and landed significant shots in the final two rounds, it was ultimately too little, too late to overcome Paul’s consistent output. Paul landed 140 of 482 punches (29%) compared to Chavez Jr.’s 61 of 154 (40%), with 40 of Chavez Jr.’s landed punches coming in the ninth and tenth rounds.
In the co-main event, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs pre-fight) successfully defended his WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles against the formidable Yuniel Dorticos (27-2, 25 KOs pre-fight). Ramirez, a southpaw, entered the ring at 34 years old, while Dorticos, an orthodox fighter known as “The KO Doctor” for his 93% knockout ratio, was 39. The fight, contested over 12 rounds, saw Ramirez secure a unanimous decision with scorecards of 117-110, 115-112, and 115-112. Ramirez, who had previously become the first Mexican-born fighter to win a world title at super-middleweight and then cruiserweight, demonstrated his superior stamina and clean punching, especially in the later rounds, to overcome Dorticos’ early aggression.
Jake Paul Faces Off With Gilberto Ramirez Following Win
Despite many thinking that a jump up to face world champion Gilberto Ramirez would be one too big for Jake Paul, the pair wasted no time teasing viewers with a potential future clash as the pair faced off following their respective victories. The immediate call-out from Paul, coupled with Ramirez’s dominant performance, set the stage for a compelling narrative within the cruiserweight division.
IBF and Ring Magazine world cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia weighed in on the potential matchup, stating he wouldn’t blame Ramirez for accepting a mandatory title defense against Jake Paul.
“He’s chasing coin, you can’t knock him if he wants to fight Jake Paul for a huge lump sum of money, who’d turn that down. I’d bash Jake Paul for a couple of mil too.”
Aftermath and Implications for the Cruiserweight Division
The victory over Chavez Jr. elevated Jake Paul’s professional record to 12-1 (7 KOs) and earned him a #14 ranking with the WBA, a move that generated considerable debate within the boxing community. However, Paul’s journey in the cruiserweight rankings was short-lived. His subsequent fight against former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on December 19, 2025, which took place at heavyweight, resulted in a sixth-round knockout loss for Paul. This defeat, Paul’s second professional loss, caused him to drop out of the WBA cruiserweight rankings entirely by January 2026.
Gilberto Ramirez, meanwhile, continued his reign as a unified cruiserweight champion after defeating Dorticos. His record improved to 48-1 (30 KOs) following the win. Ramirez’s dominance at cruiserweight, having also defeated Chris Billam-Smith in November 2024 and Arsen Goulamirian in March 2024 to unify the WBA and WBO titles, solidified his position as a top fighter in the division. However, Ramirez’s championship run concluded on May 2, 2026, when he faced David Benavidez in a WBO and WBA Super World Cruiserweight championship fight. Benavidez, moving up in weight, defeated Ramirez by knockout in the sixth round, becoming the new unified champion.
Jai Opetaia, the IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion, remained undefeated with a record of 30-0 (23 KOs) as of May 2026. He successfully defended his titles against Huseyin Cinkara in December 2025 and Brandon Glanton in March 2026. A potential unification bout between Opetaia and Ramirez was a highly anticipated matchup before Ramirez’s loss to Benavidez. The cruiserweight division continues to be an exciting landscape, with new champions emerging and the possibility of further unification bouts shaping its future.
