Eddie Hearn has commented on his defamation lawsuit against Jake Paul, which commences on October 16th in New York.
The lawsuit, in which Hearn is reportedly seeking $100 million in damages, stems back to claims from Paul that the Brentwood promoter had been bribing judges to secure favourable decisions for his fighters.
‘The Problem Child’ was in particular referring to judge Glenn Feldman and his scorecards in both the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano fight and the Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua rematch.
And though Paul and Hearn have taken plenty of jibes at one another over the past few years, this was clearly seen as a step too far.
In an interview yesterday with The Stomping Ground, the Matchroom boss stated he took Paul’s comments “very seriously” and that he had to protect his business’ “reputation, integrity and position.”
“Yeah it was a while ago, but it’s something that we took very seriously and something we’ve put a lot of work into.
“Obviously it hasn’t been resolved. It was attempted to be struck out by Jake Paul and the New York court said absolutely not.
“Now we move forward on October 16th and the real proceedings begin regarding that defamation case.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re here, but what was said was unacceptable and we have to protect our reputation, our integrity and our position.”
Paul has never been afraid to ruffle a few feathers and has been a disruptive presence in the boxing world since picking up the gloves.
However, when looking back at what he said in a since deleted interview with IFL TV, it is perhaps not surprising things have been taken so seriously.
“Then you see how this judge Glenn Feldman, who had the biggest gap between Taylor and Serrano.
“Everyone pretty much had it a draw… a draw or that Amanda won. But there’s this judge, Glenn Feldman, who scored it such a big gap for Taylor, gave rounds that Amanda clearly won, to Taylor.
“Everyone who watched the fight [knows] it’s not a split decision. Usyk had a runaway victory, clearly won the fight.
“This judge, Glenn Feldman, gives it to Anthony Joshua. It’s like a repeated crime here.
“This type of s***, I’m going to call it out here in boxing because it’s bulls***.
“Clearly, this guy is getting paid money by Matchroom Boxing.”
At the very least, this is all an unwelcome distraction for Paul, who is gearing up for the biggest fight of his life against Mike Tyson on November 15th.
