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Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul met as promotional rivals in the historic Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano superfight earlier this year.
The two will now face each other in a court of law.
Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Paul, alleging defamation in a lawsuit filed Friday afternoon in the US District Court, Southern District of New York. The case followed outrageous allegations from Paul, who alleged that veteran boxing judge Glenn Feldman was on Matchroom’s payroll based on his recent Taylor-Serrano score on April 30 in New York City and the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch on August 20. in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“Both legally and ethically, there is a clear line between opinion and defamatory lies,” attorney Frank Salzano, who is representing Matchroom Boxing in the lawsuit, told BoxingScene.com in a quote provided. “Jake Paul knows this, and he deliberately crossed that line when he wrongly accused Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn of fixing fights.
“However, he was still given the opportunity to retract his defamatory statements and refused to do so. He will now face the legal consequences of his actions, as Matchroom and Mr. Hearn seek damages well in excess of $100 million given the value and goodwill associated with Matchroom’s business and the damaging nature of Mr. Hearn’s comments. Mr Paul.”
The official complaint calls for the exact amount to be established during a required jury trial, but well “above the jurisdictional requirement of $75,000.”
Paul drew the ire of Hearn and Matchroom following his libelous comments made in an interview earlier this week with IFL TV’s Umar Ahmed, which has since been made private. In the interview, Paul, whose MVPs represent Brooklyn’s Serrano (42-2-1, 30KOs) took issue with Feldman’s scorecard from the Taylor-Serrano fight. Taylor won by split decision, with Feldman’s scorecard 97-93 for Taylor, the most among the three judges.
Feldman drew industry-wide scorn for his score in the Usyk-Joshua rematch, awarding the fight 115-113 in favor of Joshua, who is promoted by Matchroom like Taylor. Fortunately, it was overturned by judges Viktor Fesechko (116-112) and Steve Gray (115-113), whose scorecards were much more in line with the public’s perception and even Hearn’s, who admitted that Usyk deserved to win the fight. .
That didn’t stop Paul from offering his opinion on the handling of both superfights.
“I still think Amanda Serrano won the fight,” Paul said. “And then you see how this judge Glenn Feldman, who had the biggest gap between Taylor and Serrano. Pretty much everyone had a tie… or that Amanda won. But there is this judge, Glenn Feldman, who made such a big gap for Taylor, he gave rounds that Amanda clearly beat Taylor.
“Then this judge, Glenn Feldman, shows up in Saudi Arabia and tags Anthony Joshua to win (against Usyk). Everyone who watched the fight (knows) it’s not a split decision. Usyk had a great victory, he clearly won the fight. Does this judge, Glenn Feldman, give it to Anthony Joshua? It’s like a repeat crime here. This type of shit, I’m going to call it here in boxing because it sucks. Clearly Matchroom Boxing is paying this guy money.”
It was at this point that Hearn objected to Paul’s comments. The international promoter and president of Matchroom Sport made the rounds in the media suggesting that he would take legal action had Paul not retracted his claims. Paul, 25, who is training for an Oct. 29 clash with MMA legend Anderson Silva atop a Showtime Pay-Per-View, saw it coming even as he made such accusations.
“It’s a bold statement and an accusation that I don’t take lightly, but it’s blatantly obvious,” Paul said. “They’re not even trying to hide it. You’d think they got a different judge who messed up the Taylor-Serrano score. You’d think they’d get a different judge to bring to Saudi Arabia, especially since he’s from the US.
“Why does he suddenly appear in Saudi Arabia? You’d think they’d get a different judge to try to hide the corruption they’re bringing to this sport, but it’s so blatantly obvious.”
While it goes without saying that scoring and officiating in boxing needs a complete overhaul, proof is needed before you get to alleging corruption. That’s the part where Matchroom makes an extreme exception, to the point of taking legal action that he deems necessary.
“In light of his large following, when the defendant speaks, boxing fans, the media and the boxing profession listen,” Salzano said in the filed complaint. “The spoken and written words of the defendant are inevitably spread globally with the potential to damage the reputation of any individual or entity.
“While playful banter and even banter to criticize opponents are common in the boxing profession, the defendant’s recent, outlandishly false and unsubstantiated allegations against Matchroom, detailed below, crossed far beyond the line of contention. jokes and clearly constitute defamation.”
Matchroom has vehemently denied Paul’s claims, both through the media and in the filed complaint. In addition, it is noted that it is not the promoter who selects the officials but the commission that he chairs.
The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) assigned the referee and judges for each fight in the Taylor-Serrano event at Madison Square Garden. The Middle East Professional Boxing Commission handled such duties for the Usyk-Joshua heavyweight title fight rematch.
The complaint alleges that Paul “knowingly and maliciously made false and defamatory statements with the intent to intimidate, discredit and defame Matchroom. Defendant has made statements of fact against Matchroom that are false. At the time Defendant made his statements, Defendant knew, or should have known, that the statements were false.
“[Paul’s] Statements were made to reporters, newspapers and other public media, among other places and people. The statements were not privileged. [Paul’s] statements were published to a wide audience [and] he deliberately made the statements knowing that they would be released to a wide audience and would damage Matchroom’s reputation and reputation. [Paul] acted with spite and malice in making the defamatory statements [which] they were, in fact, widely published and broadcast throughout the world, including in the Southern District of New York.”
Ironically, Paul, whose brand boasts over 70,000,000 followers and subscribers across his various social media platforms, made his professional debut on a January 2020 DAZN show promoted by Matchroom Boxing, winning by knockout in the first assault on online influencer AnEsonGib during Super Bowl week. in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Hearn and Paul collaborated again for the Taylor-Serrano superfight, a fight that was once planned for 2020 but fell through in efforts to reschedule after the pandemic. The pound-for-pound matchup was brought back into play shortly after Paul’s MVP signed Serrano to a management deal last September. The move saw Serrano more than triple his pay for the fight, earning a reported seven-figure payday and the best of his career for his unforgettable clash with Taylor, which was well received around the world.
The top contender for Fight of the Year drew immediate demand from pound-for-pound stars to reintroduce her. Instead, the two have gone their separate ways, fighting on separate shows in England five weeks apart.
There is still hope that the two will meet at some point in 2022, although Serrano is looking to become the undisputed featherweight champion. A victory over Mahfoud leaves Serrano as the unified WBC/IBF/WBO/IBO champion, leaving only WBA featherweight champion Erika Cruz, who is promoted by Matchroom.
Either way, it leaves Paul’s MVP forced to work with the promotion team who he claims has a financial interest in at least one ring official. Hearn has stated that he has no problem working with Paul, even during active lawsuit, as he doesn’t want to get in the way of his fighters to maximize income from him.
The ball is now in Paul’s court to resolve the matter professionally or take his chances in a court of law.
“As a consequence of the defendant’s defamatory statements, Matchroom is entitled to substantial and significant damages in an amount to be determined at trial,” Salzano argues on behalf of his client in the lawsuit. “Punitive and exemplary damages are necessary in this case to deter Defendant and others from wantonly and maliciously using a campaign of lies to discredit Matchroom and other boxing promoters.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
