Hasim Rahman Jr said he lost respect for Jake Paul when the YouTube star acted like an "amateur a****e" during their sparring session two years ago.
Paul looks for his sixth professional win on August 6 when he challenges short-notice replacement Rahman after Love Island star Tommy Fury withdrew pulled out of a fight with Paul for the second time. Rahman, the son of a former heavyweight world champion, is 13-1 as a professional and was knocked out by James Morrison in his last fight.
Rahman first sparred Paul in February 2020 just one month after the YouTube star won his professional debut against AnEsonGib. Their introduction went smoothly, despite Rahman admitting that Paul was a bit "Hollywood", but the second time they sparred Rahman was offended by the way he acted.
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"The first time we boxed it was cool, everything was good," Rahman said on The MMA Hour. "He was a little Hollywood but when people have that type of following they tend to be that way, so that's fine. The second time we were cool up until the end of the sparring. He jumps on top of the turnbuckle and is like 'and still!' basically being a amateur a*****e.
"I tried to tell him 'come here' like you see in the video. I tried to tell him that in boxing the sparring doesn't count, but to Jake the sparring is like a fight because obviously he has no amateur experience. So if he's doing well against a professional he's thinking 'I can really do this'. Sparring sessions are like Jake's fights."
Paul and Rahman had a heated first face-off ahead of their fight at Madison Square Garden next month, with Rahman bizarrely claiming his rival "botted" followers on his behalf to promote the fight. Rahman, who faces a hefty weight cut to make cruiserweight after weighing 224lb for his last fight, claimed he was injured during his first few sparring sessions with Paul.
"I was trying humble him a little bit and tell him that I'm in here handicapped," he added. "When you watch [the spar] back you'll see I rarely use my right hand and I'm only standing one way. On top of that, he has three or four cameras rolling and I know how Jake Paul gets down. He's going to chop it up and edit it the way he did. It was nothing to do with the sparring session, it was his disrespect for the sport."
