Hasim Rahman Jr claims he was paid $100 per round to spar Jake Paul - and claims he wasn't allowed to knock out the YouTube star.
Paul, 25, faces short-notice replacement Rahman on August 6 after Love Island star Tommy Fury withdrew pulled out of a fight against him for the second time. Rahman is no stranger to Paul as the pair sparred in February 2020 just one month after Paul knocked out fellow YouTube star AnEsonGib in his professional debut.
Rahman said his first interactions with Paul were mostly positive but things turned sour when Paul gloated about beating Rahman during their second spar together. Speaking about the spar on The MMA Hour, Rahman said: "I actually was asked by his coaches not to knock him out, I was told that, 'If you knock him out, you're most likely not going to get paid'.
Can Hasim Rahman Jr hand Jake Paul his first professional loss? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
"At the time, it was during the pandemic and I was getting about $100 a round. This is just easy work sparring for me. At the same time it was definitely something that I didn't want to throw away but at the same time you're not going to disrespect me and disrespect the sport".
When their fight was announced earlier this month, Paul released footage of Rahman being visibly frustrated with him after their sparring session. Rahman said he was annoyed by Paul's lack of professionalism after the spar and claims the YouTube star purposely edited footage to make him look like the better fighter of the two.
"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."
Rahman will have to weigh in at a career low weight of 200lb for the fight with a rehydration clause prohibiting him from weighing above 215lb on fight day. Paul has competed at cruiserweight for all five of his professional fights whilst Rahman last stepped on the scale at 224lb for his knockout loss to James Morrison in April.
