Jake Paul will face Hasim Rahman Jr at Madison Square Garden on August 6 after cancelling his ill-fated bout with Tommy Fury.
Love Island star Fury is 8-0 as a professional boxer, and given his social media following was viewed as the perfect step-up opponent for Paul. But he was unable to meet the YouTuber's deadline for guaranteeing he could fly to America for the fight, and was pulled from the event.
Instead, Paul will face 12-1 American Rahman Jr, whose dad is famous former heavyweight world champion Hasim Rahman. Mirror Fighting were first to report that the pair, who sparred in 2020, were in talks for a late-notice fight.
Rahman Jr fights at heavyweight and will have to come down to the 200lb cruiserweight limit to face Paul. He has a considerably smaller social media following than Tommy, but is believed to be a much more difficult challenge with his more impressive record.
Paul announced his new opponent today in a social media post, saying: "I've wanted this fight ever since Hasim ran his big mouth to me two years ago in the gym. My brother and manager didn’t want me to take this fight. They said it was too much risk. The New York State Athletic Commission didn’t want to approve this fight because they said Hasim had too much experience for me.
"He has over 100 amateur fights. 10x more than Tommy… but i’m built different. I’m psychotic. CHAOTIC. PROBLEMATIC. 'But he’s a heavyweight,' they said. It don’t matter to me, I’m the fighting flea, they can’t hit me… I’m slippery like butter and with speed like no other.
"My power is unique and my style is sleek. I've made the toughest men weak. I’m not afraid of any man or what 'can' happen. No boxer has taken this big of a risk this early in their career. They don't have my heart, they don’t have my soul, they don't have my drive, and they definitely don't have my team. Welcome to history. Take a picture."
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Fury was given until 2pm yesterday to provide assurances that he would be allowed into America but his team had dragged their heels throughout the process, and they were unable to secure the relevant Embassy appointments to secure him a visa to travel. He will now likely have to give up his hopes of ever facing Paul after pulling out of two fight dates with his rival. The pair agreed to square off in December last year, but a rib injury cost the Brit his multi-million-pound fight.
This latest chapter began last week when Fury was turned away from a fight to New York where he was set to attend a launch press conference. He is believed to have been flagged on the American Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, or ESTA, which lets officials in the United States to know if someone may board on the visa waiver programme.
His brother Tyson is also unable to travel to America for an unrelated reason. It is believed that Fury would have needed to get an expedited visa appointment at the US Embassy in London in order to make the fight happen, which he apparently couldn't do in time.
Paul's fight with Rahman will headline at Madison Square Garden, with Amanda Serrano featuring in a double-headliner against Brenda Carabajal for the unified featherweight titles. Prospect Ashton Sylve is also expected to compete.
