Promoter Eddie Hearn has given his take on the recent fight saga involving Youtube star turned boxer, Jake Paul.
Paul was scheduled to headline a Showtime Pay-Per-View card this coming Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Initially, he was set to collide with light heavyweight prospect Tommy Fury.
A few weeks ago, Fury was pulled from the fight after finding himself unable to enter the United States.
He was eventually replaced by heavyweight prospect Hasim Rahman Jr. – the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.
The fight was contracted for 200-pounds.
Over the weekend, it was revealed by BoxingScene.com that Rahman was struggling to get down in weight and the New York State Athletic Commission raised the contract weight to 205-pounds.
A few short hours later, it was disclosed that Rahman was around the 215-pound mark and was physically straining to get any lower.
According to Paul, Rahman and his handlers demanded a weight increase to 215.
As a result, the entire event was canceled.
“It’s such a mess, the whole thing,” Hearn said to the DAZN Boxing Show. “It started with Tommy Fury. It’s Hasim Rahman, he said, she said. Booked out Madison Square Garden. It’s a circus. It’s just like, being in the ring itself, the boxing business is just not that easy. You can’t just walk into the ring and become a champion, you can’t just pick up the game and the business of boxing and start executing successful live events.
“The problem will be the reputation of future events. Are we actually going to see these events? I feel a bit for Jake, because where he’s quite unpopular with his industry, there will always be people trying to make sure he doesn’t succeed. So he has it all against him and the inexperience of not working in the boxing business. They should have known it’s very unlikely that Rahman’s going to make 200-pounds.”