By: Sean Crose
It appears that Jake Paul’s next opponent will be none other than Matchroom honcho Eddie Hearn. No, Paul’s scheduled bout with legendary UFC star turned pro boxer Anderson Silva isn’t in jeopardy. The match with Hearn will be going down in the world of legal proceedings rather than the world of professional boxing. Big money is still at stake, however, for Hearn is suing Paul for the pretty sum of one hundred million dollars. That’s one hundred million. The defamation suit, which was filed in New York on Friday, claims Paul falsely accused Matchroom boxing of paying off judge Glenn Feldman to rule on fights as they wished him to.
“Both legally and ethically there is a clear line separating opinion from defamatory lies,” Frank Salzano, who is representing Matchroom, stated (via TMZ). “Jake Paul knows that, and he purposely crossed that line when he wrongly accused Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn of fixing fights. Nonetheless he was still given an opportunity to retract his defamatory statements and refused to. Now he will face the legal consequences of his actions as Matchroom and Mr. Hearn will be seeking damages in well excess of $100 million given the value and goodwill attached to the Matchroom business and the harmful nature of Mr. Paul’s comments.”
Paul feels veteran judge Feldman’s recent rulings are sings of corruption. Feldman ruled in favor of Katie Taylor after she fought the Paul-promoted Amanda Serrano earlier this year, a ruling Paul took exception to. “This judge, Glenn Feldman,” Paul recently told iFL TV, “who scored it such a big gap for Taylor, gave rounds that Amanda clearly won to Taylor.” Paul also made it clear that Feldman’s recent controversial ruling that Anthony Joshua bested Oleksandr Usyk was indicative of more than bad judging.
“Usyk had a runaway victory, clearly won the fight,” said Paul. “This judge, Glenn Feldman, gives it to Anthony Joshua? It’s like a repeated crime here. This type of shit, I’m going to call it out here in boxing because it’s bullshit. Clearly, this guy is getting paid money by Matchroom Boxing.” Hearn was unhappy with such an accusation and now the matter is being taken up by the New York court. According to TMZ, which broke the story, Hearn and company are arguing Paul “made outrageously false and baseless allegations.” It should be interesting to see whether or not the matter is settled out of court.