Barstool Sports Dave Portnoy revealed that he reached out to ex-employee and fellow comedian Michael Rapaport for a boxing match, but it didn’t work out.
The beef between Dave Portnoy and Michael Rapaport is the stuff of legends at this point — but it’s making its way back into the news after Portnoy’s latest tell-all.
Influencer boxing has become the latest craze to take over the internet. Starting with KSI vs Logan Paul in 2018, it’s since ballooned into a huge trend that saw over $1 million raised for charity in the latest influencer boxing event, Creator Clash.
Portnoy appeared in a June 21 episode of Andrew Schulz’s ‘Flagrant’ podcast to shoot the breeze and discuss his current ventures when the topic of a possible boxing match came up.
When asked if there was anyone Portnoy would touch gloves with in the ring, he was hesitant at first, joking that he was too chicken to actually go through with it.
However, he quickly revealed that he’d actually challenged former Barstool employee and fellow comedian Michael Rapaport to a boxing match — along with a fight contract for $200,000.
“Well, I challenged Rapaport,” he answered.
“And he said no?” Schulz asked.
“He had a contract,” Portnoy continued. “A $200,000 contract. Yeah, he had it. I literally sent it to him.”
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“What was the issue — the breakout?”
Portnoy didn’t exactly say what caused the proposed fight to fail, but he did admit that it would have been a televised ‘Rough ‘N Rowdy’ brawl before admitting that his shoulders are a bit too damaged to actually undergo a boxing match.
(Topic begins at 1:36:20)
It’s no secret that Portnoy and Rapaport aren’t exactly friendly with each other. Their beef began back in 2017, when Rapaport was first hired on to Barstool.
However, Rapaport claimed the company decided against renewing his contract mere months into their deal — a deal that reportedly earned him $200,000 for video “rants.”
Rapaport ended up suing Barstool for defamation, which was ultimately dropped, although he also filed a breach-of-contract suit against the company.
It doesn’t look like this boxing match will ever pan out but fans can still look forward to Jake Paul and KSI both returning to the ring this summer.