Jake Paul against Tommy Fury was all signed and agreed for August 6 at Madison Square Garden, however the fight has yet again been thrown into doubt when the Brit was refused entry into the US.
When trying to board a plane at Heathrow for the first press conference last week, Fury got pulled to one side and was told by a Homeland Security officer that his ESTA (travel authorisation) had been denied. He claims to have no idea why he wasn’t allowed to fly, but has since gone somewhat quiet on how he plans to make the fight happen.
Paul is running out of patience and is ready to move on and find a new opponent, issuing a deadline via Twitter of Wednesday morning for the visa issues to be sorted.
Tommy is officially out by Wednesday morning if he doesn’t go to the embassy / come out of hiding.
3 other opponents lined up. I’m built different.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 3, 2022
His coach BJ Flores took to social media saying that fans would shocked with the replacement, saying:
“Nobody is going to believe who is coming next.”
Eddie Hearn on Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury
If the two men do step in the ring together, Eddie Hearn, who promoted Jake Paul’s first fight against Ali Eson Gib and has been critical of the YouTuber’s boxing ability, can’t pick a winner:
“It’s a 50/50 fight. I don’t actually know who’s gonna win that fight.”
Speaking as a guest on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Hearn was emphatic that neither fighter can afford to lose:
“If Tommy Fury loses it’s genuinely the most embarrassing thing that could ever happen to him.”
“If Jake loses his career is over.”
“So therefore it’s quite exciting.”
From a business standpoint the Matchroom promoter thinks the fight makes more financial sense to be held in the UK rather than the US:
“I think it’s a lot bigger in the UK than it is here [in the US].”
“Tommy fury was on Love Island [in the UK]… and Jake Paul’s a big star in the UK.”
“I’m not sure it’s going to knock the socks off pay-per-view in the US and I’m not sure what it does on the gate.”