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Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury Fight Has Been Canceled

The fight between social media personality Jake Paul and Tyson Fury's brother is off.

Mark Serrels Editorial Director
Mark Serrels is an award-winning Senior Editorial Director focused on all things culture. He covers TV, movies, anime, video games and whatever weird things are happening on the internet. He especially likes to write about the hardships of being a parent in the age of memes, Minecraft and Fortnite. Definitely don't follow him on Twitter.
Mark Serrels
3 min read
Jake Paul in a suit wearing sunglasses

Jake Paul's next fight takes place in August.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

After being announced back in June, the Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury fight scheduled for Aug. 6 has been canceled.

Thanks to a US visa issue with boxer Fury, is unable to compete against Paul at Madison Square Garden as originally planned. He had been given a deadline of Wednesday to figure out his issues but couldn't make that deadline.

Fury released a statement on Instagram, addressing the bout's cancellation.

"I'm gutted and disappointed in regards to the issues I have faced with entry into the USA," he said. "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 am 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 anytime, any place, anywhere."

Earlier in July, Fury went into detail regarding the original problems with travel to the US. He arrived at London's Heathrow Airport to travel for a press conference but was told his Electronic System for Travel Authorization had been denied.

"I got pulled to one side and I was told by the homeland security that my ESTA had been denied and I wasn't able to travel to the USA for a reason that I apparently know." Fury said on Instagram. "I can stand here and say I've done absolutely nothing wrong and I have no clue why I'm not allowed to travel to the USA."

Back then, in response, Paul claimed Fury was trying to "weasel" his way out of the fight. "My team and my partners have made it clear the steps you need to take to solve your latest excuse," Paul tweeted. "Take them or admit you're a scared little bitch."

More recently, Paul has said he and his team were moving on from the fight and potentially looking at other opponents.

"Tommy Fury is in hiding," he tweeted. "Instructed my team to do a Hova and move On To The Next One."

Recent reports said Hasim Rahman Jr., the son of former boxing champ Hasim Rahman, is a possible opponent.

Both Paul and Fury had officially announced news of the upcoming fight over social media on July 23.

Fury was supposed to be Paul's opponent in his last fight, which was set to take place in December. After suffering a broken rib, Fury was forced to pull out and was replaced by former UFC champion Tyron Woodley. 

That fight was a rematch of an earlier contest between the two. Paul put an exclamation mark on their second meeting, knocking Woodley out in spectacular fashion in the sixth round.

But since then -- and before then -- people have been begging Paul to fight a "real" boxer. Up to this point, Paul has faced a mix of YouTubers and ex-MMA fighters. As an 8-0 up-and-coming fighter, Fury was expected to be that "real" boxer and would have most likely represented Paul's toughest test in the ring to date.

Who is Tommy Fury?

Fury is a young pro boxer with a famous last name. He's the half brother of the current heavyweight champ Tyson Fury. He's also famous in the UK for starring in Love Island, a reality TV show where contestants have to couple up in order to avoid elimination. The show is huge in the UK.

Who is Jake Paul?

You're probably aware of Paul, the social media personality who first made it big on Vine before moving across to every platform in existence. He's moved into boxing in recent years after fighting on the undercard of brother Logan Paul's viral boxing match with UK YouTuber KSI. He showed a talent for boxing and has been fighting ever since. 

Paul has also moved into promotion, co-promoting a huge fight between Ireland's Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, which was one of the biggest female boxing matches of all time.

Paul seems to get the public's perception of his boxing career, and posted a pretty self aware (and funny) TikTok about his upcoming fight with Fury.

@jakepaul

you guys bullied me into this… not cool.

♬ original sound - Jake Paul