Why did Hasim Rahman Jr. criticize Jake Paul’s team?

The controversy surrounding Jake Paul’s upcoming fight continues, even though he’s got himself a completely different opponent.

What records do Hasim Rahman Jr. and Jake Paul have?

When it was announced that Jake Paul wouldn’t be fighting Tommy Fury after the reality TV star withdrew from their proposed bout for the second time, many boxing fans wondered who would be next. Rumors swirled, with names like Nate Diaz and Anderson Silva being mentioned. Ultimately, it was announced that he would be taking on American, Hasim Rahman Jr. and with that, receiving the first true test of his fight credentials.

This of course brings us to how the pair match up, as they head into the bout scheduled for August 6th at Madison Square Garden in New York. Despite his apparently divisive character, YouTube star Paul has fought his way to a credible 5-0 record as a professional boxer and moreover, has knocked out each opponent that he’s faced. With that said, the 25-year-old has been criticized for taking on opponents who aren’t out and out boxers. That, however, is about to change with Rahman Jr. being a boxer of decent pedigree. Indeed, the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman has written an impressive CV of his own with a 12-1 record that included 6 knockouts along the way.

Hasim Rahman Jr. takes issue with Jake Paul’s team

According to reports, professional boxer Hasim Rahman Jr is not at all pleased with Jake Paul’s team and accused them of engaging in ‘shady’ tactics to secure a fight between Paul and himself.

“It was a little shady,” Rahman Jr said, referring to the manner in which his upcoming fight with Paul was negotiated. “His coach called me, and he’s asking me how much I weigh, how I’m feeling about my last fight, what I’ve been doing in the gym, how much I’ve been sparring. ...But he was asking me under the pretense that I would come in and spar Jake as a southpaw for the Anderson Silva [fight]. I’m thinking they’re about to call me back and get me on a flight to Puerto Rico to help them out for Anderson. An hour later, I get a call saying they want to fight. So, all those questions were really trying to line me up to fight me. It was never a sparring situation.”

The devil in the details: Was Rahman Jr. was pressed into Jake Paul fight?

The interesting thing here is the chronology of events. Prior to the second attempt to secure a fight with Tommy Fury, Paul was widely rumored to be heading for a fight with former UFC champion Aderson Silva. As we now know, Fury - the half-brother of reigning heavyweight champion Tyson - pulled out of the fight citing visa problems which ultimately resulted in him being barred entry to the United States.

This gives us context for Rahman Jr’s additional comments, in which he explained that he was given a short time in which to agree to fight Paul. “’You have to respond within 45 minutes, before the top of the hour, or the offer’s off, and you’ll never get the opportunity to fight Jake Paul again,’” he quoted Paul’s team as saying. Adding further mud to the waters, the 31-year-old boxer spoke about the terms of the bout, explaining that he will be required to forfeit 25% of his fight purse for every pound that he registers overweight, should that occur. “They are that scared that they want to put that much pressure on me to make the weight, to say: ‘You’re going to lose 25 per cent for every pound you’re over.’”