Madison Square Garden is pushing back at the claim that the Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. fight card was cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
This past weekend, the boxing event that was scheduled to be headlined by Paul and Rahman this Saturday at Madison Square Garden was cancelled. Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions claimed Rahman had issues with his weight and the fight was cancelled due to “health and safety concerns.” Following UFC 277, UFC President Dana White stated his belief that the cancellation had more to do with a poor gate and Paul’s relationship with a former UFC employee than anything else.
On Thursday, an MSG representative, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, spoke to MMA Fighting in an attempt to clarify the box office side of things.
“To be clear, sales were strong heading into fight week — the cancellation was not based on ticket sales,” the representative said. “This fight was projected to be in the top 10 of highest grossing boxing events at MSG in the past 15 years.”
The rep noted that the fight week was “traditionally” the most successful week for boxing events.
Paul’s business partner and MVP promoter Nakisa Bidear, a former UFC CFO, stated earlier this week that ticket sales are trending strongly and were not responsible for the cancellation.
Rahman, on the other hand, has been claiming Paul was looking for a way out of the fight by adding extra weigh-ins and hurdles. Rahman said he is still planning on making 205 pounds on Friday regardless of the cancellation.
MSG hosted a highly successful April boxing event, headlined Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Serrano was to be competing in Saturday’s co-main card against Brenda Carabajal. MVP promoted the event.
“MVP have been wonderful partners, and we look forward to working again soon,” stated the representative.
