It’s official, for better or worse.
Tommy Fury will not be fighting Jake Paul atop the Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) boxing card on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. That’s because “TNT” has been barred from entering the United States for reasons not yet understood.
This combat sports fiasco may (or may not) have something to do with it.
“I’m gutted and disappointed in regards to the issues I have faced with entry into the USA,” Fury wrote in his most recent Instagram story. “This is something that myself or my team could have never anticipated happening. This situation has been left with my lawyers, as being denied entry to a country is obviously a very serious issue and it needs to subsequently be resolved. I’m confident this fight will happen when this issue gets resolved and we come to a solution. I want to clarify that I will fight in a neutral country that both parties can enter. This can be any time, any place, any where.”
Fury also withdrew from his Paul fight late last year due to illness and injury.
With “TNT” diffused, Paul is likely to remain in the “Big Apple” main event opposite once-beaten boxing bruiser Hasim Rahman Jr., son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. An official announcement is expected in the coming days.
“Shout out to Nate Robinson,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “The NBA player had more courage than most of these fighters.”