Madison Square Garden claims Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. was “projected to be in the top 10 of highest grossing boxing events at MSG in the past 15 years”

Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. was trending to be a big box office success.

Paul and Rahman Jr. were supposed to headline Madison Square Garden on Saturday. However, just a week before the event, the fight was called off due to weight issues on Rahman Jr.’s side. However many, including Dana White and Eddie Hearn, thought it was canceled due to poor ticket sales.

“I think they sold under $1 million in tickets and it costs $500,000 to turn the f*****g lights on at MSG,” White said after UFC 277. “That’s what I think. Not to mention hotel rooms in New York and transportation is very expensive.”

Hearn thought White’s theory of why Paul-Rahman Jr. was canceled was legit.

“Well, he wouldn’t know about pay-per-view buys, but tickets weren’t going great, to be fair,” Hearn said when asked about White’s theory on Instagram live.

However, Madison Square Garden released a statement on Thursday revealing that the fight was not canceled due to ticket sales. Along with that, the fight was trending to be a top 10 highest-grossing events in MSG in the past 15 years.

“To be clear, sales were strong heading into fight week — the cancellation was not based on ticket sales,” MSG confirmed in a prepared statement to MMAFighting. “This fight was projected to be in the top 10 of highest grossing boxing events at MSG in the past 15 years.”

Although the fight got canceled just one week before the event, MSG says they will be glad to work with Jake Paul again in the future.

“MVP has been great partners and we’re looking forward to working with them again soon,” they added.

With the fight being off, it’s uncertain when and who Jake Paul will fight next. He’s 5-0 as a pro boxer and has not fought since last December when he knocked out Tyron Woodley.

What do you make of MSG saying Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. was trending to be a big success?