Jake Paul says he knew it was going to happen from the jump.
According to Most Valuable Promotions, Hasim Rahman Jr. cheated on promotion, commission and Paul about his weight. After Rahman Jr. requested that the bout be moved from heavyweight (200 pounds) to a contract weight of 215 pounds, the promotion canceled the bout — and the entire August 6 event scheduled for New York’s Madison Square Garden.
While Paul initially issued a brief written comment, he delved deeper in two videos uploaded to social media. The videos served as a two-part explanation of what happened and why the event was ultimately scrapped.
“This is just another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury, being afraid to fight me,” Paul said. “It’s clear as day that these guys were so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to siphon more money out of this event to force us to do things. From the jump, I knew in the bottom of my heart that this person did not want to go in there with me. It’s clear as day.”
Paul reiterated much of what the initial news release from his promotion, Most Valuable Promotions said. He claimed that Rahman Jr never set out to make the weight, but when the pressure got to him, he used it as an excuse to quit.
“The biggest payday of his life, multiplied by 10, and he’s screwing it up,” Paul said. “For what? Because he knows he’s going to get knocked out by me. The pressure’s on. That’s what’s going on with all these guys. Same shit with Tommy Fury. I’m sick of it.”
Paul ended by apologizing to the other fighters scheduled to compete on the card, specifically Amanda Serrano and Ashton Sylve.
You can read a transcript of Paul’s full explanation below:
“Okay, guys. Extraordinary press conference. You may have seen the news. Hasim Rahman Jr. withdrew from the fight. This is not a joke. I am devastated. I can’t believe this. We just got this news. This is just another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury, being afraid to fight me. It’s clear as day that these guys were so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to siphon more money out of this event to force us to do things. From the jump, I knew in the bottom of my heart that this person did not want to go in there with me. It’s clear as day. Here’s what happened, in a nutshell. So he signed a contract to fight me at 200 pounds and he was going to cut weight to 200 pounds. It’s not a big cut for him. He’s a big boy with a lot of weight to lose. He sent a video to the committee when he first weighed 216 pounds. The committee wanted to track his weight loss to make sure he was doing it in a healthy way. Three weeks later, the committee asked him for an update on his weight. He submits a video weighing 215 pounds — meaning he’s only lost one pound in three weeks. So the committee was like, “Hey, man. You are not losing weight properly. We don’t want you to lose everything on the last day. We’re going to have to change this fight to 205 pounds. My team is calling. They’re like, ‘Hey man. They want to change the weight to 205 pounds. That’s a big difference. We usually fight at 190 pounds. Do you still want to fight?’ I said, “No problem. Let’s do this. 205 pounds. He already has an advantage in weight, in height, in reach, all those things. But whatever. I’ll still beat his ass at 205 pounds. And that was it. We keep going ahead. Then today, out of the blue, his team calls him and says, “Haseem will not go below 215 pounds. If the fight is not at 215 pounds, then we will withdraw. My manager says, “Fuck you guys. You don’t control this. We have already agreed on another five pounds. He is a big man. Losing 10 pounds, everyone knows in the sport of boxing that it is an easy weight loss. The UFC champs dropped 25 pounds overnight to make weight. A 10 pound weight cut for a heavyweight is nothing. This is obviously an excuse to say, “Okay, the fight isn’t at 215? We went out. The biggest payday of his life, multiplied by 10, and he’s screwing it up. For what? Because he knows he’s going to get knocked out by me. The pressure is building. That’s exactly what happens to all these guys. Same shit as Tommy Fury. I’m sick of. I am devastated. Apologies to everyone on the undercard. Amanda Serrano, I know you’ve been working hard. Ashton Sylve, I know you’ve been working hard. This is absurd. There’s nothing I can do about it. I apologize for the fans. I’ll be back sometime.”
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