I get asked about Paul all the time – “Buncey, what do you make of him?”
I tell them that Paul is one of boxing’s best-promoted and best-matched fighters. He’s the sport’s greatest modern self-publicist.
He’s had just 12 fights but operates with the publicity machine of a 30-year veteran. That’s the reality.
This next one – against Mexican Chavez – is another masterstroke. Win, and Paul can truthfully say he’s beaten a former world champion. Never mind that Chavez has been unmotivated and underwhelming for years.
This is elite matchmaking, the kind Mickey Duff or Frank Warren would have admired in the 1980s. Find a guy with a belt in the past, a name the public still knows and has just enough miles on the clock. Time it right, get the win, build the brand.
In fact, smart matchmaking has always been Paul’s strategy. Even the Mike Tyson fight was cold, calculated business. It may have counted to both their records but it was just a glorious payday for Tyson, who didn’t really let his hands go and nor did Paul either. There was a degree of benevolence in that ring.
Paul upsets the purists when he fights UFC guys and then starts calling out the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or Joshua. His mouth is his crime, not his commitment to boxing. I’ve seen him in the gym – Paul trains like a world champion.
He’s raw, his footwork clunky, his technique mechanical, but his commitment is real. He trains like he’s going 15 rounds at Madison Square Garden.
As for Chavez, this could be redemption. If a motivated, fit Chavez – the kind we haven’t seen in years – shows up, he could give Paul a real fight.
And if he wins, he’ll become a folk hero for those traditionalists eager to see the Paul machine slowed down.