Eddie Hearn agrees with Dana White regarding the fallout of Jake Paul’s next fight.
Paul was set to face Hasim Rahman Jrthis weekend in his sixth professional fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, but the fight was cancelled after it was revealed that the once-defeated boxer Rahman Jr. said that he would not be able to make the contracted weight.
The agreed limit for the clash, which fell into place after Tommy Fury was unable to enter the US to fight Paul, was 205lbs. But Rahman Jr’s team stated they wouldn’t be able to make weight and the least they would tip the scales at on Friday would be 215 pounds.
As a result, Paul pulled the plug on proceedings.
But the aforementioned UFC head honcho, White, reckons there’s more to it than that.
“I think they sold under $1million in tickets and it costs $500,000 to turn the f***ing lights on at MSG.
“That’s what I think. Not to mention hotel rooms in New York and transportation is very expensive.”
And Matchroom promoter Hearn weighed in on the situation during an Instagram Live session, echoing the sentiments of White.
Hearn was on social media to plug his next show, on Saturday at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, which will be headlined by Dalton Smith’s Yorkshire derby clash against Sam O’Maison for the vacant British super-lightweight belt and said:
“He [Paul] wouldn’t have known about pay-per-view sales yet but tickets weren’t going great.”
Paul has been embroiled in a bitter feud with the White over fighter pay and healthcare while having also worked with Hearn to co-promote Katie Taylor’s WBA, IBF, WBC and WBO world lightweight title clash against his fighter Amanda Serrano that took place at the Garden.
Recently, the internet star-turned-fighter-turned-fight-maker has urged Taylor to step down to either featherweight or super-featherweight — below her natural division of lightweight — to meet Puerto Rican-born Brooklynite Serrano in a rematch.