Jake Paul has countersued boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, claiming the Matchroom Boxing boss is trying to “chill” his free speech.
Since getting into the world of boxing, Jake Paul has had plenty of verbal spars with critics – be those fellow fighters, legends, pundits, or promoters. He’s taken on all comers, really.
The ‘Problem Child’ has had, well, a problem with Eddie Hearn too. The Matchroom Boxing boss promoted Jake’s first professional fight, but then moved on from him. He quickly questioned Jake’s skills as well, falling into the camp of critics who call the YouTuber-turned-boxer a sideshow-type attraction.
They’ve had legal issues too. In September 2022, Hearn and Matchroom sued Jake for “damages in well excess of $100 million” after claiming that judge Glenn Feldman was being “bribed” to score fights in favour of Matchroom boxers.
“This type of s*it, I’m going to call it out here in boxing because it’s bulls**t. Clearly, this guy is getting paid money by Matchroom Boxing,” Jake had tweeted following the Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk rematch.
While it had gone quiet on that front, Jake has since countersued Hearn. Jake and his lawyers have claimed that it is an “intimidation tactic” from Matchroom. The aim? That would be “to chill Jake Paul’s freedom of speech and to silence other critics of the boxing industry.”
Jake and Eddie have had heated clashes when they’ve been together.
As per MMAFighting’s Damon Martin, Jake has previously moved to have the original lawsuit dismissed. However, that was denied. Hence his new countersuit.
In terms of his countersuit, Jake is aiming to “prevent Matchroom from further using expensive and time-consuming litigation to stifle the free speech of journalists, media organizations, and anyone else speaking on issues of public interest.”
He wants his lawyers fee’s repaid and damages for himself. Maybe he and Hearn will end up in the ring together after all.