Back in August 2018, when influencer boxing was still in its infancy, Jake Paul and Deji Olatunji—KSI’s younger brother—faced off on the undercard of the KSI vs. Logan Paul event. What started as an online beef escalated into a fiery boxing debut for both. Paul walked away with a fifth-round TKO win and a burst of notoriety. Deji, meanwhile, suffered a loss but gained respect for pushing the fight deeper than most expected. However, that day, a new rivalry was born.

It was between the two guys who had won that night—Jake Paul and KSI. To this day, despite a deep-seated animosity, the two pioneers of influencer boxing have yet to meet inside the ring. Years of online taunts, post-fight digs, and competitive tension have existed. While Jake Paul has surged ahead, going pro and racking up victories over retired MMA fighters, KSI has been comparatively less active with his boxing. But despite Paul’s ongoing feud with his older brother, Deji couldn’t help but commend his former rival after his hard-fought victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last night. 

“Fair play to Jake Paul, actually looked really good”—Deji tweeted after his unanimous decision win. It wasn’t coming from a casual fan or pundit. It was from someone who had traded punches with the man himself. Considering the deep-rooted rivalry between the Olatunji and Paul families, Deji’s comment stood out as a rare public nod of respect.

The fight in question saw Jake Paul notch a unanimous decision victory (99-91, 97-93, 98-92) over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a former WBC middleweight champion. Despite the massive expectations from the 39-year-old to dismantle the Problem Child, he remained pretty much gun-shy and passive, at least for the first half of the fight. The son of the Mexican boxing legend only managed to land a measly 61 punches across 10 rounds, while Jake Paul managed to land a respectable 140. Though Chavez Jr connected well when he tried, that too after the fifth round, it was too little, too late.

It might be one reason why, once the scorecards hit social media, criticism quickly followed. Many questioned the quality of Paul’s opposition, with comments like “a mockery of the sport” and “rigged.” The fact that Paul had won nearly every round didn’t help either. Boos echoed through the stadium after Jake Paul was declared the winner. It irked the YouTube star so much that he shouted, “Shut the f**k up.” Clearly Jake Paul isn’t too concerned with the boos, especially considering the event was a success.

Jake Paul continues to break records

While Jake Paul’s unanimous decision win over Julio César Chávez Jr. grabbed headlines, what stirred even more buzz was what happened outside the ropes. Ticket prices for the Anaheim bout at the Honda Center plummeted in the days leading up to fight night—some dropping as low as $10, with many others slashed by up to 70%, according to Ring Magazine. For a spectacle featuring the son of a Mexican boxing icon, such markdowns had fans wondering if the hype had finally outrun the demand.

But those bargain-bin prices didn’t exactly scream failure. In fact, they helped Paul and his team pull off what no one saw coming: a new venue record at Anaheim’s Honda Center. “The live gate was a record $1.57 million for @jakepaul at @HondaCenter tonight,” veteran boxing journalist Lance Pugmire revealed on X. He also added that Nakisa Bidarian of Most Valuable Promotions expects “the @WBCBoxing to also rank Paul given that both he and Ramirez beat their 39-year-old foes the same way.”

Naturally, the internet had its own take. Some critics mocked the ticket markdowns as a desperate ploy to save face. Others, however, praised it as another stroke of marketing genius from Paul—someone who’s proven time and again that he knows how to turn spectacle into sales. Whether it was clever strategy or damage control, the result was the same: a packed arena and a record-breaking night.

Beyond the numbers, Jake Paul’s performance in the ring furthered his claim as boxing’s most disruptive figure. After handling Chávez Jr. with relative ease, the influencer-turned-fighter doubled down on his intentions to fight the sport’s elite. He isn’t just collecting wins—he’s flipping the script on what a boxing draw looks like in 2025.