Jake Paul will have to wait to legitimize his boxing career… once again. And his curse of not being able to face a boxer yet refuses to stop haunting him. Now, it was his scheduled engagement against Hasim Rahman Jr. that had to be cancelled with less than ten days to go.
After his fourth fight as a pro, all against non-boxers, Jake Paul took aim at his first real challenge in the ring, Tommy Fury, cruiserweight fighter and brother of WBC World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury. However, health problems kept the Brit away and he had to repeat opponent, Tyron Woodley, for his December 2021 fight.
When everything seemed that by August 6, with Madison Square Garden as a witness, Paul was finally going to fight a boxer, everything fell apart again. Once again Tommy Fury could not be his opponent, now due to immigration issues, and then the fight with Hasim Rahman Jr., the British substitute, could not take place either.
The reason for the cancellation of Jake Paul’s August 6 fight
The boxing world was already savoring the fight: Jake Paul facing a fighter with a solid background as Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-1-0, 6 KOs), was the real test to know if the Youtuber’s invincibility in 5 fights as a professional is real.
However, since the announcement that Rahman Jr. would be Tommy Fury’s replacement, a potential problem loomed: the division in which he fights. Jake Paul has always fought at the limit of the Cruiserweight division, that is, no more than 200 pounds. While the Gold Blooded has never fought outside the Heavyweight division.
Thus, the official version of Jake Paul, revealed via an official statement of his sporting event promotions company released on social media, is that Hasim Rahman Jr. was the one who refused to participate in the fight agreed at 205 pounds maximum, something that Hasim was already clear after signing the corresponding contract. After a check weighing, also agreed in the legal agreement, it was known that Rahman Jr. was far from the maximum weight a week before the fight so he conditioned his participation to the 215 pounds. Something that the Youtuber’s team refused to accept.
The controversy began and with it the war of declarations between the two, who accused each other of being the cause of the fans not being able to enjoy the fight scheduled for August 6 at Madison Square Garden, a function that had to be canceled with implications also for the multi-champion in various divisions, Amanda Serrano, who was going to take part of it as the co-main event.
