"They didn't sell tickets" - Bernard Hopkins labels cancelled Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. fight a "s***show"
Boxing Hall-of-Famer Bernard Hopkins has given his verdict on the canceled fight between Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr.
Hopkins said:
“They didn’t sell tickets, you have to understand, I mean there is a lot of fake going on and people are starting to realize it. COVID is basically not keeping people in jail/ house or anywhere else and they have got other choices to make now then say last year this time. So the world of boxing, and the people of boxing and entertainment is starting to say 'Huh wait a minute, fool me the first time shame on them, fool me the second time shame on me’."
Hopkins believes that the intrigue behind Jake Paul has disappeared, which is why the fight was canceled. The former boxer claimed that people were only watching YouTubers box because of COVID last year, wherein people were stuck at home and were willing to watch anything to be entertained.
Hopkins thinks that now that the entertainment and boxing industries are back on their feet, demand for YouTube boxing has gone down.
Hopkins suggested now that people are free to leave their homes, and that more content is available, people are no longer interested in seeing YouTubers like Paul box.
Hopkins added:
“Once you look at that sheet, spreadsheet leading up to the week or two the fight where you are in terms of numbers or I would say interest. Having interest that is going to grab these multi-tickets that have still been sitting. They knew that this was going to be a disaster... I just know that the gig is up, the sh*tshow is up.”
Watch the full interview here:
Ticket sales for Jake Paul and other influencer boxing events have been a topic of interest
Dana White was one of the critics of the ticket sales for the Jake Paul fight. White suggested that Madison Square Garden is expensive to operate and that the fight got canceled due to the poor ticket sales. Eddie Hearn also doubled-down and claimed that the ticket sales were not looking great.
A reason for the poor ticket sales may be because of Hasim Rahman Jr. having to be brought in a late-stage replacement. Originally, a grudge match between Tommy Fury and Paul was promised, but Fury backed out. Fury was unable to enter the United States of America. Like Paul, 'TNT' has an entertainment background.
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YouTuber KSI recently criticized the ticket sales of Social Gloves 2. The show was meant to be headlined by Austin McBroom vs AnEsonGib.
AnEsonGib has competed in YouTube boxing before, but was not cleared to fight due to a head injury. As such, the event has been canceled.