Matchroom boxing promoter Eddie Hearn files $100M defamation suit against Jake Paul

Jake Paul's foray into boxing may include a fight inside a courtroom.

Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn, one of the sport's most influential promoters, filed a lawsuit Friday against Paul alleging defamation after recent Paul accusations that Matchroom paid off a judge in two separate fights this year, per a document obtained Saturday by ESPN.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Matchroom and Hearn attorney Frank Salzano told ESPN that his clients are seeking more than $100 million in damages. TMZ was the first to report news of the lawsuit.

«Both legally and ethically there is a clear line separating opinion from defamatory lies,» Salzano said. «Jake Paul knows that, and he purposely crossed that line when he wrongly accused Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn of fixing fights. Nonetheless he was still given an opportunity to retract his defamatory statements and refused to.»

In an interview last week with IFL TV, Paul said he believed boxing judge Glenn Feldman was getting paid by Matchroom to score bouts for that promotion's fighters. Feldman was a judge on a bout between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor in New York back in May and also scored the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua rematch last month in Saudi Arabia.

Taylor won a split decision, with two judges, including Feldman, ruling in favor of her. Usyk also won a split decision with Feldman the only judge scoring the bout for Joshua. Taylor and Joshua are Matchroom fighters. Serrano is part of Paul's Most Valuable Promotions and Paul and Hearn co-promoted Taylor vs. Serrano, the first-ever female boxing headliner at Madison Square Garden.

«It's like a repeated crime here,» Paul told IFL TV. «This type of s---, I'm going