The WBC’s former champion has returned to his winning ways.
In his single boxing outing of 2025, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. had a tough night at the office. He suffered an embarrassing defeat to Jake Paul.
Last June, the Mexican star was convincingly outpointed by Paul over 10 rounds at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The ex-Disney star secured the decision win after his rival offered little resistance.
Despite suggestions that the 39-year-old boxer should retire after that result, he returned on Saturday night in an attempt to avoid his first sequence of back-to-back losses in five years.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. returns to the ring with a fourth-round stoppage
Although he did hold the WBC middleweight title from 2011 to 2012, Chavez Jr. never quite reached the level of his father, a legend in the sport.
As his career has gone on, Chavez Jr.’s decision to take on crossover bouts against MMA fighters and celebrities has drawn criticism from some fans and even from his own father.
Despite that, Chavez Sr., who is now 63, still showed up to support him in his first fight since the defeat to Paul.
This time around, he made a much better showing of himself. In front of a hometown crowd at Arena Coliseo in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Chavez Jr. stopped Angel Julian Sacco in round four of their light heavyweight contest.
The fight ended after the Mexican star dropped Sacco with a hard shot to the body.
The Argentine boxer could not recover fully and was eventually overwhelmed by a series of punches before the referee stepped in to stop it.
The victory was Chavez Jr.’s first since his 2024 win against Uriah Hall, bringing his professional record to 55-7-1.
It was also a good night for his brother Omar Chavez, who secured a second-round knockout over Colombia’s Jose Miguel Torres on the same card.
Calls for retirement followed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s loss to Jake Paul
Chavez Jr.’s defeat by Paul was not the first time he has suffered a difficult loss in the ring. He had previously been beaten by an MMA star before that fight.
Anderson Silva claimed victory over Chavez Jr. in his boxing debut following his departure from the UFC.
With both results fresh in mind, there has been growing sentiment that Chavez Jr should consider retirement, and Shane Mosley is among those voices.
The former world champion told Chavez Jr to step away from the sport after his loss to Paul while offering a critical take on his performance.
He told Fight Hub TV: “I don’t know what he was doing; it was weird. It was weird to see that type of fighting.
“Chavez Jr. needs to retire. If you can’t throw any punches in two, three, four rounds, what are we doing?
“You’re just living off your father’s name because you didn’t even fight until the last two rounds, and you had success when you threw some punches. It’s the weirdest thing ever.”
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