Shakur Stevenson Shares Strict Route for Jake Paul to Become World Champion

Shakur Stevenson Shares Strict Route for Jake Paul to Become World Champion originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Say what you want about him, but without a doubt, Jake Paul is an undeniable draw. The Problem Child has had 13 fights, in which he has emerged victorious in 12 of those bouts, losing only to legendary former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s younger brother, Tommy Fury—with 7 KOs.

The criticism you often hear of Paul consists of his selection of opponents, which has ranged from YouTubers, a retired NBA point guard, and several mixed martial artists, to a few boxers with varying levels of relevant credibility. The legitimacy of Jake’s opponents is increasing as his career goes on, with his most recent win being over 39-year-old former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

In multiple interviews, the former YouTuber has stated that his goal is to be a world champion in boxing, which always sounds insane based off of his current résumé—but the closer he gets to that goal, the more realistic the talks become. After the Chavez Jr. fight, El Gallo was officially ranked #14 in the WBA cruiserweight division. Following this, the world title conversations were more serious than ever.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, current WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, who fights William Zepeda later tonight, entered the chat to give his thoughts on what path Jake Paul should take to achieve cruiserweight gold.

“I think Jake has got tremendously better from the timeframe that he started until now,” Stevenson said. “And in the right situation, I could also see him becoming a world champion.”

A potential opponent for Paul is Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez, the current WBA and WBO cruiserweight champ. Shakur weighed in on the topic, saying, “I’m not the biggest ‘Zurdo’ fan, [but] yeah it is [a big jump for Paul],” the 28-year-old said. “I mean, ‘Zurdo’ has been boxing for a long time.

“[But] I think ‘Zurdo’ is the better fight for him than Badou Jack. I wasn’t impressed with his [Ramírez’s] last fight. And I just know, Badou Jack—even though he’s old—he’s got a lot of experience and he knows how to win.”

Here, I would have to disagree. Fighting a 41-year-old Badou Jack seems way safer than taking on the 48-1 Zurdo, who is only 34 years old and is just recently coming off an impressive victory against the hard-hitting Yuniel Dorticos that took place on the same night Jake Paul defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Neither bout is an easy one, but Jack’s style could also be easier for a future Jake Paul to edge out. The Ripper tends to have lots of extremely close fights that often leave the fight in the judges’ hands, which produces varying outcomes depending on what kind of style speaks to them the most. With that being said, if Paul were to have a chance to fight Badou, it would be a few years down the line—which would land the WBC Cruiserweight World Champion in his mid-40s in comparison to Ramírez, who would just be reaching his late 30s.

Jake Paul is only ranked #14, so this fight is a ways away, but the fact that he has made it this far in boxing has already surprised most. At 28 years old, Jake does have quite the future ahead of him. If he can rise to the world title picture, it would be amazing—and the world would likely flip upside down if he were to emerge victorious.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 13, 2025, where it first appeared.