Hasim Rahman Jr was so confident of beating Jake Paul that he offered to fight for the minimum purse of $5,000.
Paul announced last night he had cancelled his sixth professional bout because Rahman Jr was refusing to come down from the 215lb he currently weighs. The fight was initially contracted to be held at the cruiserweight limit of 200lb before it was revised upwards by five pounds.
Paul claimed Rahman Jr was not willing to lose any further weight in the final week before the fight, leaving him with no choice but to cancel the whole New York card. Rahman Jr, however, has insisted the bout was pulled prematurely.
"Let me go ahead and kill all this internet cap Jake Paul has got going on for you all," he said in a lengthy video. "I'm a bridgerweight, I campaign at bridgerweight, otherwise known as heavyweight outside the WBC. I signed the contract to make 200lb within the three-and-a-half weeks I had to do it but I couldn't do it, my body simply would not let me do it, it would not let me get to 200lb.
"But where in boxing do you see them cancelling fights a week in advance? I didn't even get my last week to get down as low as I could. I told this man, there are penalties involved, keep the purse, I will fight for the $5,000 minimum, that's how much it means to me and that's how much faith I had in knocking him out.
"I would have beat this man up with one hand like I did in the gym, but let him tell it he already beat my a** in the gym when I was 230lb. So if you beat me up when I was 230lb, what's the problem fighting me when I'm 215lb or 210lb?
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"It's clearly them not wanting to fight, it's not me pulling out. I never said I didn't want this fight, the only thing I can conclude is that they're scared. They tried to drain me down, I told them I wouldn't be able to get all the way down to cruiserweight, it was an astronomical feat from the beginning."
Paul has offered no indication as to when he will fight again but is unlikely to offer Rahman Jr a second chance. The same is likely true for Tommy Fury who was due to be in the opposite corner until he was unable to travel to New York for a pre-fight press conference.
