Tommy Fury and Jake Paul were set to finally come face to face this week, with Fury travelling to New York in order to participate in a press conference alongside the American YouTube star.
However, the British boxer has revealed that Visa issues have meant that he is unable to travel to the US for the press conference, which subsequently puts the entire fight in jeopardy. Fury revealed the issues in a video posted to Instagram, telling fans that he had been denied entry because his ESTA was invalid for an unknown reason.
Tourists and business travellers into the US must have a valid ESTA before entering the country, however, there are also questions to answer upon entering the country, with the US's border controls notoriously tight. However, Fury revealed that he was stopped from boarding the plane at Heathrow as he explained in a video posted to social media.
READ MORE: Tommy Fury denied entry to United States with Jake Paul fight in doubt
Speaking on his Instagram, he said: "Me and my team arrived at Heathrow Airport ready to fly out and as soon as I entered the airport I was pulled to one side and told by Homeland Security officer that my ESTA had been denied and that I wasn't able to travel to the USA for a reason I apparently know.
"I can stand here and say I have done nothing wrong and I have no clue why I'm not allowed to travel to the USA. I've been training for a fight this whole time and that's all I've been doing. I have no clue why I'm not allowed to travel and neither does my team or my lawyers.
"Now I've got to go to the embassy trying to resolve it and I'm in the middle of training. I don't know why this has happened a huge shock to me and my team. It's government issues and it's a lot bigger than the fight right now and I'm trying to get it sorted."
Paul's Most Valuable productions were organising the fight and the 25-year-old responded on Twitter to the news, saying: "Tommy, no matter how hard u try to get out of this fight, I’m going 2 do everything in my power 2 not let u weasel ur way out. My team & my partners have made it clear the steps u need to take 2 solve ur latest excuse. Take them or admit ur a scared little bitch. #TommyFumbles "
There was also an official statement from the promotional company, which was set up by Paul to promote boxing events, with Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano in May promoted by the YouTuber's company. In a series of tweets they explained the situation and the reasoning for cancelling the press conderence.
They wrote: "Despite many assurances by Tommy Fury and his team that he was able to come to the U.S., and knowing that Tommy was in California just last month, we were surprised to learn that he had an issue at Heathrow airport on Monday.
"As a result of circumstances out of our control, the scheduled press conference for Wednesday at MSG has been postponed. We are working with our partners at SHOWTIME and Madison Square Garden and will share more information as soon as we are able."
