Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis fight officially moved to Miami after Atlanta plans fall through

Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis has a new home. Paul vs. “Tank” will take place at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Nov. 14 after plans to host the exhibition boxing match at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena fell through.

Last month, Netflix announced it would stream the fight from State Farm Arena. However, Most Valuable Promotions, co-founded by Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, ran into issues with Georgia’s athletic commission. USA Today previously reported that MVP had withdrawn its request for event permits and rule waivers after pushback from Rick Thompson, chairman of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission. 

“Unfortunately, we made the decision to withdraw the event from Georgia after several interviews conducted by Commissioner Rick Thompson, who seems to have a personal agenda, publicly misrepresenting the facts and undermining what was set to be a massive event for Atlanta, featuring multiple world championship bouts and the launch of efforts to revitalize world-class boxing in Georgia,” Bidarian told ESPN. “No tickets were ever on sale, and every step of this process was coordinated in close communication with the Commission’s Executive Director. This event would have delivered significant value to the city, the state, and the sport.”

Thompson, whose commission was required to approve the event, opposed booking the fight as a sanctioned professional boxing bout or as an exhibition. The biggest glaring issue with the fight is that Paul regularly competes at cruiserweight, roughly 65 pounds heavier than WBA lightweight champion Davis’ normal weight class. 

“This is the dumbest [expletive] I’ve ever heard,” Thompson said on Sept. 8. “It’s a money grabber, and I’m not OK with that.”

MVP did not immediately respond to USA Today’s inquiry about whether the Florida combat regulatory body had sanctioned the fight. Bidarian told ESPN that more details about the matchup will be shared at Monday’s press conference in New York.

“From the outset, we were clear with GAEC on the agreement between the fighters, which is what the matchup will be,” Bidarian said. “We will share details next week at our New York press conference.”