JAKE PAUL FACES ANOTHER FORMER WORLD CHAMP AS WILDER RETURNS

In terms of a random weekend of boxing action, it really doesn’t get much more random – but as randomly exciting – as this one.

A super-middleweight ‘interim’ world title fight on Friday, followed by the return of a former heavyweight world champ. Then on Saturday, probably the best fight of the weekend in an all-British European title clash – and Jake Paul headlining a card that features a cruiserweight unification clash against another former world champ.

Random, bizarre, a weekend that typifies boxing right now. Call it what you want, but one thing’s for sure: there will be plenty of talking points to come out of it.

Let’s start on Friday night in Quebec City, where the undefeated Frenchman Christian Mbilli will be looking to put his foot forward for a shot at the Canelo vs Crawford winner when he faces Maciej Sulecki.

Originally ordered to fight Diego Pacheco, Mbilli has instead had to settle for a clash with the Pole, who bounced back from a stoppage defeat to Pacheco with an emphatic KO of Ali Akhmedov in February.

Mbilli is now 28-0 and has shown on countless occasions that he’s got the power and boxing IQ to win a world title. So, despite Sulecki’s impressive win last time out, we expect it to be a relatively simple night’s work for the Frenchman.

Now for the biggest fight of the weekend in terms of size, which takes place in Kansas, where former WBC world heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder will be looking to bounce back from two straight defeats when he takes on Tyrrell Herndon.

We won’t cut any corners here – this fight is quite simply designed to get Wilder an early knockout and restore his confidence before he steps in with someone in the world’s top 50.

Herndon is 24-5 as a professional and has been stopped four times in those five defeats.

His victories have come at a very low level, and his last defeat came at the hands of Richard Torrez Jr back in October 2023, where he was obliterated inside two rounds.

The fight makes sense – for Wilder – as in his past few bouts he’s looked gun-shy. It’s clear he needs to rediscover that form, power and confidence that made him the most destructive heavyweight on the planet just a few years ago.

If this goes past two rounds, there’s serious cause for concern with Wilder. But to be completely honest, we highly doubt that it will. Then who knows what’s next for Wilder – maybe AJ, or how about Dave Allen?

Kicking off the action on Saturday night is undoubtedly the fight of the weekend: 20-2 Shakan Pitters up against the 20-1 Bradley Rea for the vacant EBU European Light-Heavyweight Title.

Two lads who’ve done the rounds on the domestic scene – Pitters’s two defeats have both come at a decent level, to Craig Richards and Dan Azeez. Since his loss to Azeez in 2022, he’s recorded three straight victories and goes into this fight with Rea full of confidence.

Mancunian Rea was once regarded as one of the biggest prospects in British boxing before becoming part of that good old ‘who needs him?’ club, struggling for 50/50 match-ups.

He secured highlight-reel knockouts against Lee Cutler and Craig McCarthy, both on Sky Sports, before suffering the first defeat of his career to Tyler Denny for the English Middleweight Title in 2022.

That defeat triggered Rea’s move up in weight – a move that was more than overdue – and since then, he’s picked up seven straight wins, with the last six coming by way of knockout.

To the fight itself – and it’s a really enticing match-up.

Both lads are absolutely enormous for the weight, with Pitters standing at a HUGE 6’6" and Rea just shorter at 6’3”.

Two very big bodies with four exceptionally long levers.

The size advantage may lie with Pitters, but the power advantage is undoubtedly with Rea. The Manchester man has built a reputation for working well on the inside and his exquisite body punching. And considering he’s giving away height – probably for the first time in his career – that inside work will be crucial when finding a way to win.

What Rea also does well is switching stance. He may be orthodox, but he boxes just as well as a southpaw. Pitters will need to get his reads early and look to offset Rea to stop him getting into that switching rhythm.

Rea has never visibly been hurt in the pro ranks before, so if Pitters is to have that belt wrapped around his waist at the end of the night, he’ll need to keep it long, stay light on his feet, and pick Rea off on the way in – going downstairs to the body and mixing it up with that long screw shot/uppercut of his.

Live on DAZN in prime time on Saturday night – do not miss this cracker.

For the final card of the weekend, we head to California, where Jake Paul will be looking to potentially book himself a shot at a world title – as absolutely absurd as that sounds – when he faces former world champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, with Gilberto Ramirez defending his WBO & WBA World Cruiserweight Titles against Yuniel Dorticos in the chief support.

Firstly, a good undercard fight to watch out for is Floyd Schofield Jr against former world champ Tevin Farmer.

Schofield, who withdrew from a fight against Shakur Stevenson earlier this year during fight week, is currently 18-0. He faces Farmer, who comes into the bout off the back of two controversial points defeats to the undefeated William Zepeda.

It’s a good test for Schofield at this stage of his career, and if he passes with flying colours, he’ll almost certainly get a world title shot in his next fight.

To the chief support – where Gilberto Ramirez defends his WBA & WBO Cruiserweight Titles against Yuniel Dorticos.

A fight that’s gone very much under the radar – more than likely due to the main event – but one that has all the minerals to be either a snooze-fest or a fight of the year contender.

Dorticos’s only defeats have come at the hands of Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev – both at the highest level – and with 25 knockouts from 27 wins, he’s certainly a man who has the power to dethrone Ramirez.

Despite a strong stoppage record at both 168lbs and 175lbs, Ramirez has become a much more rounded boxer since moving up to 200lbs, having seemingly been unable to carry his power up.

What he’s lost in the power department, he’s gained in speed and footwork – with impressive victories over Joe Smith Jr, Arsen Goulamirian, and most recently, Chris Billam-Smith.

But Dorticos’s power – combined with the fact he’s boxed at this weight his entire life – offers a completely different proposition for the Mexican. He’s Cuban, so a natural boxer, but with his power he poses a massive threat to Ramirez’s reign.

He’s also been very much overlooked in this fight, with Ramirez already flirting with the idea of defending his titles against Jake Paul. The fact that the Cuban is 8/1 with the bookies says it all – but don’t be surprised if he pulls off the upset, and in emphatic style too.

To the main event – and it really does sum up the weekend’s boxing action: random.

Jake Paul – you could say stepping up – against former middleweight world champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Both similar in that their professional careers have been in the limelight since day one, albeit for different reasons – these are two men who certainly know the pressure of fighting on the big stage.

Paul is on a five-fight win streak following his defeat to Tommy Fury, whilst Chavez Jr – whose career has been plagued by problems outside the ring – beat UFC legend Uriah Hall in what was his first fight in nearly three years, back in July last year.

If it were Chavez Jr vs Paul in their prime, there would only be one winner. However – it isn’t.

It’s a Julio Cesar Chavez who has fought just once in nearly four years and a man who’s been battling addictions away from the sport.

If – and that’s a big if – he’s got himself into good condition and isn’t simply in this for a payday, he should ask questions of Paul. But if not, then expect the former Disney star to once again get tongues wagging with another dominant display against a former world champ.