Promoters Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul say they’ll put their money where their mouth is (mouths are?) on Saturday night, with each man backing Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, respectively, on a proposed $1 million bet.
Hearn and Paul had the conversation at today’s final press conference:
Eddie Hearn: You’re fully confident that your charge will be victorious and become undisputed lightweight world champion?
Jake Paul: More confident than you are.
Hearn: Really? I don’t think so.
Paul: I got a bet for you, Eddie.
Hearn: I’m not having a tattoo.
Paul: I’ll bet you all the jewelry that I’m wearing right now that Amanda wins the fight.
Hearn: Well, I was hoping to bet for a lot more than that.
Paul: Well, then let’s put it on.
Hearn: I mean, $10 grand’s not a lot.
Paul: This is $500K!
Hearn: Who told you—
Paul: $500K!
Hearn: We can have a bet. Me and you can have a bet.
Paul: $500K. $500K drippin’ right now.
Hearn: Maybe we can talk about a million.
Paul: Let’s do a million!
Hearn: OK. We’ll talk. We’ll talk. I know about your bets—
Paul: I bet Amanda wins for a million dollars.
Hearn: We’ll get that together. We’ll get that together. We’ll get it together, don’t worry.
Paul: He’s not shaking my hand!
Hearn: Don’t worry. We’ll get it together. Actually, we’re the underdogs in the fight, apparently with the bookmakers. We’ll talk.
Paul: I’ll meet the oddsmakers odds, too!
Hearn: You don’t need to, you’re the favorite.
Paul: $1 million plus odds!
Hearn: You’re the favorite with the bookies.
Paul: Regardless, let’s do it, let’s shake up on it.
Then they shook hands, and Paul let out another stoner chuckle.
Whether or not this is a real bet is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, because if it’s not then they just won’t talk about it after Saturday, or they could simply keep lying about it.
But as a promotional tactic, it’s something Paul has seen work in his own fight with Tyron Woodley last year, driving a lot of internet chatter and general interest around the event, and then in the post-fight, too, when Woodley took a while to actually get the tattoo he’d agreed to get if he lost.
As for the odds, DraftKings Sportsbook have Taylor at +115 and Serrano at -140, which is wider than the odds were just a few hours ago the last we checked, though still essentially a pick’em fight, especially by boxing main event standards. They could well move again by Saturday, so if you’re feeling really strong either way and want to bet, you’ll have to pick your spot.
Bad Left Hook will have live coverage for Taylor vs Serrano on Saturday, April 30, starting with the prelims at 4:30 pm ET and continuing with the main card at 7:30 pm ET.
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