The ‘exhibition’ between cruiserweight Jake Paul and lightweight Gervonta Davis, which had been proposed for November 14, will not be happening in Georgia.
According to USA Today, Paul’s promotional group MVP withdrew requests for event permits and rule waivers – one of which being the huge weight discrepancy between the boxers – required to stage such a contest.
Rick Thompson, chairman of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission, said: "I believe it's in the public's interest to know that because they've been promoting something they should not have been.''
Robert A. Sinners, Communications Director for the Office of Secretary of State, told USA Today that the event "will not be happening.''
Regardless, BoxingScene has learned that the organisers are still hopeful that the event will occur elsewhere.
The bout, even after it was announced by MVP last month and even accounting for the ‘exhibition’ tag, always seemed like a long shot given that Davis has never weighed more than 140lbs and Paul was 227lbs as recently as last November.
"They probably evaluated a situation - knew that their weight differences were too much,'' said Thompson.
Last month Matchroom's Frank Smith, who had been negotiating a potential Anthony Joshua vs. Paul contest with MVP, told BoxingScene: "They’ve announced it, but the weight isn’t agreed, none of the details have been agreed, so it’s not really agreed. You can imagine there will be some stumbling blocks."
Paul’s career has been built on leftfield events comparable to this one, however. Not least his contest with 58-year-old Mike Tyson last year, which was won on points by Paul after eight two-minute rounds and drew a reported audience of more than 100 million on Netflix.
Most recently, in June, the 12-1 (7 KOs) Paul outpointed Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr over 10 rounds, weighing 199.5lbs. Three months before Davis, 30-0-1 (28 KOs) and weighing 133.75lbs, was held to a 12-round draw by underdog Lamont Roach.
