UFC boss Dana White gave the closest to genuine insight into Jake Paul’s decision to cancel his failed attempt to fight a real boxer.
According to the ex-Zuffa Boxing chief, the YouTuber, and Disney star quickly began to realize that promoting fights is no walk in the park.
Paul told Hasim Rahman Jr. they would no longer be squaring off, blaming weight issues five days from the scaling. Rahman stated he could have made the limit but was willing to take less money – as stipulated by Paul – if he couldn’t.
This outcome led to Paul scrapping the whole event despite other fighters on the bill getting career-high paydays from his company.
Dana White exposes Jake Paul
White is in no doubt about why the event got shelved.
“I’m not going to sit up here and be happy or gloat that their fight fell out. I mean, I’m sure both those guys put in a lot of hard work and training to get ready for this fight, spent money to get ready for this fight,” said White at the UFC 277 presser.
“But I will say this. Just because you were an accountant here doesn’t mean you know what goes on here. It doesn’t mean you can run a fight promotion company.
“I think Jake Paul needs to get some different people around him. If he’s going to stay in the sport, he needs to be with guys that actually really know how to put on fights.”
Poor ticket sales
“I think they sold under $1 million in tickets. It costs $500,000 to turn the lights on at MSG. That’s what I think.
“Not to mention hotel rooms in New York and transportation are very expensive.”
Ticketmaster evidence
Another version of the truth
Paul had told his followers another version of what transpired despite ticket sales speaking for themselves on Ticketmaster.
“Hasim Rahman Jr has pulled out of the fight. This is not a joke. I am devastated. I cannot believe this; we just found out this news,” the vlogger said.
“This is another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury, being scared to fight me.
“It is as clear as day that these guys have been so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to suck more money out of this event.
“They try to coerce us into doing things. I knew from the jump that this guy didn’t want to get in the ring with me.”
It’s a pretty lovely tale to tell, if true. However, the evidence doesn’t stack up, and Paul’s chance to prove himself is gone.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
