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Ever since the cancellation of the fight between Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr., there has been speculation about the reasons for the cancellation. Each side presented its side of the story in which it blames the other, and there were also stories that poor ticket sales were the main reason for the cancellation of the entire event.
The management of Madison Square Garden made a statement on the matter yesterday. MSG is a well-known hall in New York, which throughout its history has hosted some of the biggest martial arts events ever, and this weekend the famous 'YouTuber' was supposed to box in that hall.
One of the first "proponents" of the narrative that poor ticket sales were the main reason for the event's cancellation was UFC president Dana White, and later he was joined by commentator Michael Bisping. “I think they sold under $1 million in tickets and it costs $500,000 to turn the f*****g lights on at MSG,” White said after UFC 277.
“That’s what I think. Not to mention hotel rooms in New York and transportation is very expensive”.
MSG addressed the public
The management of MSG has decided to step forward and end such a narrative. Yesterday they addressed the public and said: “To be clear, sales were strong heading into fight week — the cancellation was not based on ticket sales,” MSG confirmed in a prepared statement to MMAFighting.
“This fight was projected to be in the top 10 of highest grossing boxing events at MSG in the past 15 years”. “MVP has been great partners and we’re looking forward to working with them again soon,” they added.
If their words are to be believed, Dana was wrong. Jake Paul has not fought since last year when he knocked out former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, and this Saturday he was supposed to fight Hasim Rahman Jr. after Tommy Fury canceled his bout.