It was right around round four of the Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. bout at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California that I started contemplating leaving the premises early and beating traffic. More than ever, I value my time, and by that juncture I had seen what I needed on this card. After another uneventful stanza, I got my stuff and I was headed out the door after the fifth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySj5pDp57Mc
As I walked up the stairs in-between sections 218 and 219 I noticed the glazed look of the mostly Mexican fans who once again made the mistake of putting any faith in the son of 'the Lion of Culiacan'.
I got out of Lot 4 unimpeded and had a relatively smooth drive back home to Los Angeles. In the later rounds more and more people started to stream out of the venue I'm told. I felt like the first guy to get a life boat off the Titanic after it hit the iceberg (damn the women and children!!). Hey, better safe than sorry, right?
Esther Lin
Yeah, the main event became the walk-out bout.
And guess what? There's nothing wrong with that, it was still a pretty good night of boxing, and the reality is that you should've known what you were getting into with Paul-Chavez. I find it curious that there are those who believe that Paul's fights are A) fixed or 'works' , B) come against carefully hand-picked opposition or C) a lot of both A and B. Then you have Chavez who perennially lets down his fan base which comes largely as a result of his father. Mexican boxing fans if anything, are fiercely loyal.
With all this, you 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 expected something different than what transpired on Saturday night?
There's a reason why Chavez Jr. was selected. His career was largely a product of favorable matchmaking, nepotism and kid gloves treatment from the WBC. At one point while under the direction of Freddie Roach and Top Rank he did develop into a decent enough fighter.
Esther Lin
But to put this into perspective, it's been nearly 13 years since his 90 seconds of fury against Sergio Martinez in round 12 and eight years since getting blanked by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. At age 39, Chavez Jr. is now just a shell of whatever he was.
So again, what were you expecting?
As for the undercard, in my view it absolutely delivered. Before the pay-per-view portion kicked off, Joel Iriarte got in some much-needed rounds against Kevin Johnson. Joshua Edwards, perhaps the best young American heavyweight prospect, scored a highlight reel KO of Dominicc Hardy in the first. Raul Curiel impressed in halting Victor Rodriguez in four entertaining rounds.
Esther Lin
Then Floyd Schofield shocked everyone by halting the slick Tevin Farmer in the first round. Sometimes it's not if you win but 𝘩𝘰𝘸 you do so that matters. Well, Schofield did something that the likes of Raymond Muratalla and William Zepeda (in two fights) were not able to do, and that's devastate Farmer. It was an arcing right hand that sent Farmer down, who never recovered from this shot. He got floored again, and then was staggering again before the fight was waved off. OK, OK, no more jokes about what happened in Saudi Arabia, crow eaten and point taken young Floyd.
Later on Julian 'Hammer Hands' Rodriguez scored a huge KO over Avious Griffin, who is represented by Paul's MVP Promotions. Rodriguez began his career as a prospect under the Top Rank banner, and ran into some tough times. As he was watching the early rounds of Gilberto Ramirez-Yunier Dorticos bout, you could see the joy on his face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yfDYMWGDm
"Aww, man, it's a remarkable victory," Rodriguez said to SNAC.com. "It's a long time coming. I'm anticipating a lot to come."
And now, rest assured, Paul knows who he is.
Esther Lin
"Of course, and he better put that shit on Tik Tok like he said. He said Avious was going to knock me out. He better give me the 'performance of the night' bonus," said Rodriguez, who has resuscitated his career. "I'm only 30 years old. I should be approaching my prime years."
Finally you had the cruiserweight title bout between 'Zurdo' Ramirez and Dorticos. Ramirez, who was once a super middleweight belt-holder, has made the successful transition up to cruiserweight. He has solid technical skills but just as importantly, the requisite punch resistance. Which was needed on this night. After a sluggish start, Ramirez started to chip away at Dorticos and he won a hard-fought 12 round decision.
Esther Lin
Now, if this card would've ended right there, it would've been considered a solid night of action. If you expected anything different than what took place afterwards, that's on 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
