Eddie Hearn shakes hands on £800k bet with Jake Paul over Katie Taylor fight

Jake Paul and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn have agreed on a £800k bet ahead of Katie Taylor’s bout with Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

The historic women’s title clash will see Taylor defend her undisputed lightweight championship against Serrano, who is a seven-division champion. The duo are set to become the first women to headline the iconic venue.

Paul represents Serrano while Hearn works as Taylor’s promoter, and the two men decided to make a wager and put their money where their mouth is at the press conference on Thursday. In the past, Hearn has admitted he has respect for Paul for how the YouTuber has carved out a career in boxing for himself.

“I’ve got a bet for you Eddie,” Paul said. “I’m not getting a tattoo,” Hearn quipped back, referencing the tattoo bet that Paul made ahead of his December 2021 rematch with former UFC champion Tyron Woodley before knocking him out.

“I’ll bet you all the jewellery that I’m wearing right now that Amanda wins the fight,” Paul said.

Hearn then joked he was hoping to bet more than that and the two eventually pushed the wager to $1,000,000 – approximately £800,000. Paul looked to seal the deal there and then with a handshake, but Hearn suggested he’d like to have some paperwork put together for the bet first.

However, the two men eventually shook on it. Paul closed the press conference by reminding Hearn of the bet and declaring that his winnings will go to his fighter, not himself.

“When Amanda wins, I’m giving your million dollars to her,” Paul added.

Will Katie Taylor defeat Amanda Serrano and win the bet for Eddie Hearn? Let us know in the comments section.

Ahead of the fight, Serrano believes there is ‘no pressure’ on her to perform despite the magnitude of such an event. She added: “It’s definitely been a long time.

“We’re finally getting our shine thanks to all of you guys, Madison Square Garden, can’t ask for a better place to make history once again. Sitting here, I made history, I won my Golden Gloves here at the Hulu Theater and I made history on DAZN becoming a seven-division world champion and I plan to do the same thing at the big Garden. It’s my first fight there, but I shine under pressure.”

Taylor also spoke of her pride in taking part in such an enormous and historic fight for women’s boxing, with the Irish star avoiding trash talk to her Puerto Rican rival. Taylor said: “Definitely I’m very, very proud of this event.

“It does feel different just seeing the media today, looking at the amount of media that we had to do all week as well. I’m sick of talking about myself, but it’s been an amazing week and definitely very, very different than to how I started boxing as a nine- or 10-year-old when I had to pretend to be a boy to actually get fights.

“Women’s boxing wasn’t even a sanctioned sport in Ireland. Now here we are headlining Madison Square Garden, the most iconic venue in boxing, making history as the biggest female fight in boxing history.”

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