Jake Paul admits he will scrap his August 6 event at Madison Square Garden if short-notice replacement Hasim Rahman Jr pulls out of their fight over pay issues.
Paul was scheduled to fight Love Island star Tommy Fury on the card, but the Brit was unable to provide Paul with proof that he could travel to the US after being turned away when travelling to the press conference. Rahman stepped in on a month's notice to fight the YouTube star, but Paul revealed the heavyweight is demanding more money despite having already signed a fight contract.
Rahman, who holds a record of 12-1, is the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. Paul claimed that he is being paid over ten times any of his previous fight purses, but he is demanding to be paid at least thirty times the amount of his biggest previous fight purse. Paul is getting restless with the hassle and said he won't fight on August 6 if the pay issue can't be resolved.
"If Hasim pulls out, we just won't do the event," Paul said on The MMA Hour. "I'm tired of switching opponents, there's really no other names. We'll have to reset and reschedule, it's too last minute to switch out another opponent. The tickets, it creates so many complications for refunds, it's just a f****ng nightmare and a pain in the a** at his point
"It's too late to give someone a fair amount of time to train. I want someone in there who's going to give me a challenge, if we called someone up three weeks before there could be the excuse they only had a couple of weeks to train and it wasn't a fair fight. This is the last resort, hopefully it comes through. It's crazy how the Disney channel kid is down to fight but no-one else is."
Rasim is no stranger to Paul, with the pair sparring before Paul's second professional fight against Nate Robinson in 2020. Paul admitted that Rahman got the better of him in the gym that day, but said their August 6 fight will show that he is the superior boxer.
Do you think Jake Paul's fight with Hasim Rahman Jr will go ahead? Let us know in the comments section below
Paul has told Rahman to go ahead with the fight after his recent pay negotiations, stating: "Don't fumble the biggest bag of your life dumb***, I know you're not a very smart guy but you're going to lose all of the money right now. Don't make the wrong decision and let these sharks around you try to negotiate to get more money.
"This might be your moment to become something like your dad but right now, you've let your dad down in every single thing you've done in your life and if you fumble this he's going to be even more disappointed in you. Make it happen and come knock me out August 6."
