Jake Paul's bout with Hasim Rahman is off after issue with Rahman's weight
Jake Paul’s upcoming bout with Hasim Rahman Jr. has been canceled.
The fight, which was set to take place next week at Madison Square Garden, was canceled on Saturday night due to an issue with Rahman’s weight.
First Tommy Fumbled and now Hasim Rahman Crumbled. These boxers are the most difficult people to work with and continually lack professionalism and confidence to fight me.
I apologize to all of the of the other fighters on the card, our partners, our team and the fans. https://t.co/0q6MxqG3XJ— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 31, 2022
According to Paul's promotion company, Rahman had lost less than one pound than he had initially agreed to for the fight — which was supposed to take place at a max of 200 pounds.
Rahman weighed 216 pounds on July 7, and his team wanted the fight to take place at 215 pounds. Paul wouldn't go above 205 pounds.
Paul's company said they were not willing to work with someone who was working in "such a deceiving and calculated manner." So they canceled the event altogether.
“First Tommy fumbled and now Hasim Rahman crumbled,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “These boxers are the most difficult people to work with and continually lack professionalism and confidence to fight me. I apologize to all of the other fighters on the card, our partners, our team and the fans.”
Paul was initially supposed to face off against Tommy Fury instead, though that was called off earlier this month after Paul claimed that Fury “literally went into hiding.” Fury, who is the half-brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, was denied entry into the United States by Homeland Security reportedly because of his ties to alleged mob boss Daniel Kinahan.
Rahman, 31, then was going to replace Fury — and would have been the best fighter that the YouTuber-turned-boxer has faced so far in his career by far. Paul’s first five opponents were not boxers, and held a combined 0-1 record when they fought him.
Now, though, the fight is off. When Paul steps into the ring next, and against who, is anybody's guess.
