Why didn’t he throw more punches? Jake Paul opponent faces down criticism after defeat
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Julio César Chávez Jr. discussed his strategy in Saturday’s loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
Julio César Chávez Jr. (54-6-1) suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Jake Paul (12-1) on Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The former WBC middleweight champion faced criticism for his lack of aggression against the YouTuber-turned-boxer, but Chávez Jr. stood by his game plan.
“The strategy was good”
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, the Mexican fighter explained that his strategy was to wear Paul down in the early rounds, hoping fatigue would sap the American’s power. However, the plan didn’t play out as intended.
“I think the strategy was good - make him tired in the first three or four rounds, and come back strong,” Chávez Jr. said. “But I think in [rounds] four, five, six, I lost the fight.
“Because I won the last three rounds. I was strong later [in the fight]. I needed to throw more punches. That’s all. I feel OK - but I think I could have done it a little more. But no excuses.”
How many punches did Chávez Jr. throw against Paul?
According to CompuBox, Chávez Jr. landed just 61 punches out of 154 thrown over 10 rounds. Notably, 40 of those landed punches came in the final three rounds. Paul, by contrast, was the aggressor from the opening bell, throwing 482 punches and connecting on 140.
Surprisingly, Chávez Jr. wasn’t the least active opponent Paul has faced. That distinction belongs to boxing legend Mike Tyson, who threw just 97 punches and landed 18 in his November bout with Paul. On the other end of the spectrum, Nate Diaz landed 143 punches after throwing 392.
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