Oscar De La Hoya praises Jake Paul's influence in boxing

Yahoo

15-05-2025

Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions is touching gloves with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions for an incredible fight night next month.
After getting a call from Paul's manager requesting that the two work together, De La Hoya got the ball rolling to have him fight former WBC middleweight title holder, Julio César Chávez Jr.
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'He started with Nickelodeon, then he started doing YouTube videos, and now he's fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.,' De La Hoya said proudly on the KTLA 5 Morning News about Jake's journey to the ring.
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Does the Golden Boy himself think Paul has what it takes to go toe to toe with Chavez, Jr.?
'It's all experience and every single fight he's been having, he's been getting better and better,' he explained. 'I think Jake Paul is one of the most disciplined athletes out there today. I really feel that, because he, I don't know, at what age he started boxing. Maybe he started boxing at, I don't know, 25. Normally, when you're a prodigy or you grow up fighting, you have to be 5,6,7 years old, just like I did. You grow up in the system, but Jake Paul took it up and he's just so disciplined and trained so hard.'
Jake Paul lands a left to Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Next month's bout will be Paul's 'first real test' on his in-ring skills.
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'People have been talking about, 'Well, you've been fighting these ex-basketball players, you've been picking your opponents. Well, now he's fighting a real fighter, a son of a legendary name in Mexico, Julio César Chávez, and he's been world champion,' he explained. 'Canelo fought Chavez. I promoted that in Vegas a few years ago, and they went to 12 rounds. So my thinking is, if Jake Paul can go out there and do something that Canelo couldn't do to Chavez. I mean, just as a promoter, I'm thinking, 'My gosh, this Jake Paul is on his way to becoming a world champion.''
Like many people, De La Hoya tuned into Paul's famous fight against Iron Mike Tyson last year.
'I felt bad. I felt sad for my buddy, Tyson,' he said. 'Everybody was expecting Mike Tyson to be the old Mike Tyson, but come on, he's like 62. I've tried, like, I wake up in the morning thinking, 'My gosh, today's the day.' I wake up like spraining my ankle or trying to throw a punch, and my shoulder blows out.'
De La Hoya acknowledged the boxing world's criticisms over Paul entering the sport at a later age than most and him eyeing the championship, but he chalks that up to envy.
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As for the future of the sport, the 11-time world title champ thinks having Paul involved is a 'positive thing.'
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'Jake Paul has such a big influence, especially with kids. You're seeing a lot of kids now in the gyms. You're seeing a lot of kids now off the streets and and that's a great thing,' the Olympic gold medalist said.
He also touted Paul's hand in helping transform women's boxing.
'(He) now lives in Puerto Rico for obvious reasons, and he has a program there where he works with women. So he's put women on his shows. It's all women. They fight. They become world champions.'
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On the promotions side of things, De La Hoya said he's keeping an eye on the 'growth of just kids just coming up the system and and kids that are just wanting to become like a Jake Paul, like an Oscar, or a George Foreman and it's because of Jake Paul, he's introducing them to a whole new sport, which is pretty cool.'
The fight is happening on June 28 at Anaheim's Honda Center. For more information, head to goldenboy.com or follow them on Instagram.
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