The status of the proposed fight between Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis – under scrutiny because of the weight discrepancy between the two fighters – has grown murky.
Rick Thompson, chairman of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission (GAEC), told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday, Sept. 16 that the promoter had withdrawn their request for event permits and rule waivers required to hold the event in Georgia.
The promoter was Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), co-founded by Paul and business partner Nakisa Bidarian.
“I believe it’s in the public’s interest to know that because they’ve been promoting something they should not have been,’’ Thompson said when reached by USA TODAY Sports.
In fact, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, tickets still were available for purchase online and the fight still was listed on the State Farm Arena event calendar, to be held Nov. 14. MVP announced the fight, which is supposed to be carried by Netflix, on Aug. 20.
MVP did not respond to questions about the fight USA TODAY Sports submitted by email and text message.
A press conference was scheduled for Thursday, Sept 18 at State Farm Arena to promote the fight and MVP did not respond to an email sent by USA TODAY Sports asking if the press conference still would be held. MVP recently rescheduled a press conference in New York to Sept. 22 that was originally set for Sept. 17.
In hopes of holding the fight in Georgia, MVP had requested a rule waiver that would have addressed the weight discrepancy between Paul and Davis. Paul weighed in at 199½ pounds for his last fight and Davis weighed in at 133¾ pounds for his last fight.
The GAEC commission is scheduled to meet Thursday and was expected to vote on MVP’s requests. MVP needed the votes of three of the five commissioners for approval, and the chairman – one of the five commissioners – adamantly opposed the rule waiver that would have modified restrictions on the allowed weight difference between fighters.
“They probably evaluated a situation, knew that their weight differences were too much,’’ Thompson said.
Thompson said he was notified of MVP’s decision Tuesday by GAEC executive director Matt Woodruff.
In an interview with USA TODAY Sports Sept. 8, Thompson blasted the fight, calling it “the dumbest (expletive) I’ve ever heard.” He also said he didn’t think Paul was a competitive fighter.
But on Tuesday, Thompson said he hoped MVP could reconsider holding the proposed undercard for the Paul-Davis bout in Atlanta.
“We would love for the undercard to still fight in the state of Georgia,’’ he said. “We believe the undercard is something people would like to see.’’
On Sept. 2, USA TODAY Sports reported that the proposed fight between Paul and Davis had hit an apparent snag.
This story was updated with new information.
