So apparently Eddie Hearn is suing Jake Paul.
Will this be an opportunity for the 25-year-old Paul to prove that he is probably the best friend boxing has right now?
For those unfamiliar with the recent showdown between the YouTuber/Boxer and the head of Matchroom Boxing/DAZN thug, it all started when Paul accused judge Glenn Feldman and Matchroom Boxing of corruption.
“I still think that Amanda Serrano [who he promotes] won the fight,” Paul told iFL TV when asked about his fighter’s April split decision loss to Matchroom’s Katie Taylor. “And then you see how this judge Glenn Feldman, who had the biggest gap between Taylor and Serrano. Pretty much everyone had a tie… a tie or Amanda would win. But there’s this judge, Glenn Feldman, who made such a big gap for Taylor, gave rounds that Amanda clearly won, to 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.”
Paul put himself in lawsuit territory by acknowledging that he was serious, making “a bold statement and an accusation” that he does not take lightly. He said that he felt the need to speak because “[the payoff is] just blatantly obvious. And they’re not even trying to hide it.”
Hearn responded as we all knew he would: litigiously.
According to TMZ, the promoter filed a defamation lawsuit against Paul alleging that the 5-fight rookie pro boxer “made outrageously false and unsubstantiated allegations” that damaged the reputation of his promotion company.
Hearn/Matchroom are reportedly seeking more than $100 million in damages.
So what should we do with this lawsuit? And how could this legal dispute make Jake Paul boxing’s best friend?
First, the first part.
Hearn and Matchroom have no intention of pursuing this lawsuit. Libel lawsuits are extremely difficult to win (and expensive to pursue). They would have to prove actual monetary damage from what Paul said. And in an industry where corruption is taken for granted as part of the business culture and where shady dealings have historically shown no impact on revenue generation, there will be no harm to show for it. However, Hearn and Matchroom had to show that they were defending their “honor”. My guess is that the lawsuit will eventually go away and/or be settled pretty quickly.
Now to the second part.
If the lawsuit DOES proceed and runs its course, Hearn, Matchroom and DAZN (at least indirectly) will have to open their books to the world in the process of discovery. Everyone will be able to see all that proprietary information that DAZN, especially, has been trying to keep secret internally. Sales, revenue, purchase fees, subscription numbers – everything will be a public record. It is in no one’s interest to make this kind of sacrifice in pursuit of a remote chance of winning a libel in the courtroom.
The far greater benefit to boxing, however, is that an ongoing lawsuit would shed much-needed light on the rotten and incestuous inner workings of how officials in boxing are selected.
While a state’s commission is ultimately responsible for appointing the three judges for a fight, the pool from which those three are selected is made up of judges pre-approved by the sanctioning body (or bodies) sanctioning that fight. And we all know how “complacent” these sanctioning agencies can be with developers, who provide the vast majority of their operating budgets.
Once the judges (and other officials) are selected (from the list of “acceptable” officials), the promoter is responsible not only for providing payment to the judges (via payment to the commission, which then compensates the judges), but in some states, required to provide food, lodging, and per diem to cover judges’ expenses.
So, in short, the promoter, whoever has the most to gain or lose in a fight, pretty much calls the shots, through the puppet sanctioning bodies that establish the pool of judges from which commissions can select, as to who will decide judge and officiate a match with your wrestler. And they are also responsible for paying those officials.
“Believe it or not, the promoters pay the judges,” former two-division world champion and TV commentator Bobby Czyz said in a 2009 Fight Hype interview. “The judges are appointed by the commission and paid by the promoter. . That is part of your responsibility. Now, the sanctioning bodies, what they are going to do is say: ‘Any of these 12 judges, we accept it’ because the sanctioning bodies have to accept the judges or they don’t sanction it…”
According to Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News in a 2009 article:
“…it is the relationship between the judges and the promoters that needs to be examined.
In the dense world of boxing, the judges who score these fights are on the payroll of the event promoter.
To save face, the promoter gives the check to the commission, who then gives it to the judges. But the result is the same: the promoter is paying the judge to make a decision on a fight in which the promoter has a financial stake… This is outrageous. In no other major professional sport is a team owner responsible for the salary and housing of his officials.”
Glenn Feldman may not be directly compromised. Other judges cannot be directly compromised. But the system is set up in a way that encourages corruption and convenient incompetence, even if it’s entirely at a subliminal level. The implication is clear if you’re a judge: If you don’t score fights the “right” way, you may not get the next big assignment. No easy paycheck, no paid vacation, no free hotel room, no per diem, no adrenaline rush from being ringside in a big fight.
And the “correct” way to judge seems to always be in favor of the house fighter, whose promoter is the one who pays the judges and allows these incredible benefits. Do you think it’s a coincidence that controversial decisions almost always favor the fighter of the house?
The inner workings of the judge selection process in boxing are almost never written about or talked about in the boxing media. And with good reason. This is an absolutely unacceptable way of conducting a sport where the lives and livelihoods of the athletes are at stake. To know how things work, how completely corruptible the system is, is to see the whole sport in a horrible, almost irredeemable light. The media, heavily reliant on money and favors doled out by the sport’s promoters, has prevented boxing’s dirtiest secret from becoming common knowledge and a source of outrage inspiring reforms or binding government legislation.
Outsiders, motivated to take a long enough spike behind the curtain, are boxing’s only hope of redemption in this area. This is why Jake Paul might be the most unlikely hero in sports.
But all of this is probably a moot point. The lawsuit in Hearn/Matchroom v. Paul will only get to a few rounds of starting. Nobody but nobody in the boxing business wants their business to be known.
However, true sports fans and us outlaw media types can dream.
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