Former world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman admitted that his son has poorly prepared for previous fights just days out from his grudge fight with Jake Paul.
Rahman Jr has accepted a late-notice bout with YouTuber Paul after Tommy Fury pulled out of a massive headlining bout at Madison Square Garden on August 6. But his own father has said that he will need to prepare much better than for his previous outings if he is to get back to winning ways in New York City.
The boxer is Paul's toughest test to date, bringing a massive size advantage and a 12-1 record to the bout with his 5-0 rival. But his father believes that he could be even farther in the game if he had prepared properly for his previous bouts, despite being undefeated until a controversial stoppage against McKenzie Morrison last month.
"Flat out, I'm going to give you an honest answer," Rahman told reporters at a press conference in New York today when asked about his son's past performances. "I don't know if my son will like it but I'll just tell the truth because that's what I do. My son has really underperformed and underprepared for pretty much all of his fights, but he will be ready for this one."
Asked if he agreed with his dad's assessment, Rahman Jr responded: "I think that the potential that's inside me has not been reached yet, so I agree, yeah.
"I think I could definitely have performed better in all of my fights, so on August 6 we are going to come fully prepared. He just told you he's going to tell the truth.
"This ain't nothing he hasn't already said to me before, Jake just needs to bring his gloves and his boots on August 6 because I might just knock him out of both of them."
Do you agree with Hasim Rahman's take on his son's previous performances? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Paul appeared stunned at the revelation, and continued to predict that he will land a big finish against Rahman in a major step-up fight. The YouTube star was due to face 8-0 Fury in the originally scheduled bout, but is now taking on a bigger fighter with a more impressive record.
"This is what I do," Paul said. "I take hard challenges, I challenge myself more and more with each fight, increase the level of opposition and give the fans what they want. People want me to 'fight a real boxer', here we go.
"This guy is bigger than me, he has more experience, there's no reason why I should win this but I'm proving to the world that if you set your mind to something and you truly believe in yourself and mentally low-key insane, you will win."
