Jake Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) is certainly a golden boy in Oscar De La Hoya’s (39-6, 30 KOs) eyes.
Paul is currently gearing up to face former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June. The fight card will also see Gilberto Ramirez defending his WBA cruiserweight title against Yuniel Dorticos. De La Hoya, who promotes Ramirez, recently opened up about teaming up with Paul and about his thoughts on ‘The Problem Child’ as a fighter and a promoter.
De La Hoya was a guest on the latest episode of Brown Bag Mornings, where he was asked about Zurdo’s inclusion in Paul’s fight card. While he hilariously responded by saying that he did it for the “money”, De La Hoya was quick to voice his respect for Paul as a fighter and a promoter.
“Serious talk here, so yeah, Jake Paul called. And Nakisa, who is his manager and stuff, and we talked and everything. And then we got DAZN involved, which is the platform that is going to show it,” he said. “So, it made sense. They wanted a big fight.”
De La Hoya mentioned that he is willing to work with anyone as long as he is able to make the big fights happen.
When asked to team up with Paul, he quickly noticed the unnecessary slack that ‘The Problem Child’ receives for being a YouTuber. However, he sided with Paul for his antics, agreeing that it is all a show to promote fights.
This further prompted him to probe into Paul’s history, particularly about his involvement with the sport of boxing, which in turn earned him a lot of respect in De La Hoya’s eyes.
“I’ll tell you one thing. I think Jake Paul is one of the hardest workers in the gym; it’s crazy. And the way he’s been doing it is pretty clever. I mean, think about it, he’s got 11 fights and he’s fighting Chavez Jr, an ex-world champion that went the distance with Canelo,” he said. “It’s like I can’t hate him for trying. And it’s like he’s fighting a real fighter.”
“The Real Deal”
According to De La Hoya, Paul picked Chavez because it was a tough fight. While he had previously fought Tommy Fury, De La Hoya believes that Chavez is “his first real test” for Paul and potentially a step towards the world title.
“Now he’s fighting Chavez, who’s a real fighter. He’s been a world champion. Canelo Alvarez couldn’t knock him out. I’m banking on if Jake Paul knocks out Chavez, I mean, what are we doing?” he said while talking to DAZN. “It’s a huge step towards that world title. I feel Jake Paul is the real deal, and I’m not just saying that because we are working with him.”
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