The Nov. 14 bout between Jake Paul and Gervonta “Tank” Davis, a match questioned because of the wide discrepancy in their fighting weights, has moved from Atlanta to Miami, Paul’s promoter Most Valuable Promotions announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Paul, who co-founded MVP, said the event will be hosted at Kaseya Center and streamed live on Netflix.
“New city, same mission, seek and destroy the tank,” Paul, 28, said in a news release. “Kaseya Center. Friday, November 14. I’m bringing the heat, and Miami will see me take down this angry elf while the world watches live on Netflix.”
Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) last fought at 199 pounds on June 28 against former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and won a unanimous decision, leading to the WBA ranking him No. 14 at cruiserweight.
Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) has not competed in a weight class heavier than 140 pounds, with the last six at the 135-pound limit. Davis weighed in at 133 pounds when he last fought in March to a majority draw with Lamont Roach Jr. and retained his WBA lightweight belt.
“Jake Paul has been cherry picking in the sport of boxing for a while now, but he picked the wrong opponent this time,” Davis, 30, said in the release. “He better start losing some weight, chasing some chickens, and pray that helps him some on fight night! Thank you to Netflix for giving me the opportunity to whoop this clown!”
No contracted weight or number of rounds have been announced for the bout, which had been scheduled for Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Promoter MVP had withdrawn its request for event permits and rule waivers required by the state, Rick Thompson, chairman of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission, told USA Today on Tuesday.
“I believe it’s in the public’s interest to know that because they’ve been promoting something they should not have been,” Thompson told USA Today.
MVP needed three of five GAEC commissioners at Thursday’s scheduled vote to approve its request for permits. USA Today reported that Thompson, one of the five commissioners, opposed waiving the rule on modifying restrictions on weight disparities between fighters.
“They probably evaluated a situation, knew that their weight differences were too much,” Thompson told USA Today.
The press conference to promote the event scheduled for Thursday at State Farm Arena was rescheduled for Monday in New York City. A second press conference is slated for Tuesday at Kaseya Center.
“We’re grateful to State Farm Arena and the GAEC for their support in this process,” Nikisa Bidarian, co-founder of MVP, said in the release.
Source: Reuters
-Agencies
