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.

The son of the former unified World Heavyweight Champion Hasim Rock Rahman, has already had the opportunity to exchange blows with Jake Paul, at least during training, as he sparred with the Youtuber two years ago, when the latter has started his path in boxing.

This is how Hasim Rahman Jr. would know closely the preparation that Jake Paul and his team do for their fights. With that knowledge, the Maryland native leaked an embarrassing plea that the Youtuber’s team supposedly made to him at the time they clashed during a training camp. It could be possible that Jake Paul’s confidence in overcoming Rahman Jr. could be based on a farce.

Hasim Rahman Jr. reveals strange request made by Jake Paul’s team when they were sparring partners

That Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr already had a chance to exchange blows in a ring and that the atmosphere was very tense between them is no secret. There is even a video that confirms this fact. However, something else would have happened at that time, as Rahman Jr. revealed that the Youtuber’s team would have asked him not to hurt his boxer during the sparring session.

“I didn’t come to beat you up, or to see if you were even on my level, or you were ready for this level. I was actually was asked by your coaches not to knock you out, I was told that if I knock him out, I most likely wasn’t going to get paid, it was during the pandemic. It was $100 a round—it was easy work sparring for me. It was something I didn’t want to throw away.“, stated Hasim Rahman Jr. according to Boxing Scene.

In fact, this would have been the reason why Jake Paul would have been upset with Hasim Rahman Jr. during the sparring session, as the Gold Blooded would have pointed out to him that he was not fighting to the best of his abilities: “I was just trying to humble him a little bit and tell him, I’m in here handicapped a bit… I knew he was going to chop it up the way he did… It had nothing to do with the actual boxing, the sparring session. It was just his disrespect for the sport and for what we were doing. I came to give you a look“.

“I’m tellin’ the truth, because you leavin’ it out. … . Let the people know. You always talkin’ about, ‘Oh, he’s bigger than me. Oh, he’s a heavyweight,’ and all this stuff and all that. That’s cut, because we coming to cruiserweight….But I’m not here to negotiate, I’m here to end this facade that he’s calling a career.“, stated the son of the former Unified World Heavyweight Champion HasimThe RockRahman.

“This 100 per cent (a better fightthan the Tommy Fury one) this is what I do, I take hard challenges and challenge myself more and more with every fight and give the fans what they want. People say take on a real boxer? Here we go, I’m proving to the kids out there if you set your mind to something then you will win“, saidJake Paul.

What is a rehydration clause in boxing?

As in any sport, in boxing there are agreements that must be followed and rules that must be respected. To ensure equal conditions and chances of winning in the ring in a fight, there is a stipulated maximum weight that both contenders cannot exceed on the day of the weigh-in, usually held the day before the fight.

To reach that agreed tonnage, boxers go through many sacrifices such as not eating enough or even not drinking water so that it does not take extra grams to your body. However, once the weigh-in is over, it is natural that every boxer eats and drinks what he could not during his training stage, so he usually goes to the ring with many pounds over the ones he weighed in at the weigh-in.

This is where the rehydration clause maneuver comes in, which was used by Jake Paul in his fight against Hasim Rahman Jr.: it stipulates that the fighter to whom it is applied, cannot freely gain weight after the weigh-in, ensuring that he does not arrive much heavier than his opponent by establishing a maximum weight at which to be on the day of the fight.

Canelo Alvarez and his use of the rehydration clause

Although it is considered controversial, for preventing a full recovery of one of the opponents facing each other in a professional boxing fight, the rehydration clause is not illegal. In fact, its most recent exponent is Mexican champion Saul Canelo Alvarez.

The Guadalajara native imposed this rehydration clause, according to various sources such as Izquierdazo, in his fights against Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs and, above all, Sergey Kovalev. All of them, much bigger individuals than Canelo, especially Kovalev, whom he faced at 175 pounds in November 2019, a category in which the Mexican had never fought before.

What was the rehydration clause for Hasim Rahman Jr. imposed by Jake Paul?

Hasim Rahman Jr. being a natural heavyweight, like his father, there is a considerable difference for Jake Paul, who in his 5 fights as a professional boxer has fought in the Cruiserweight division, that is, less than 200 pounds.

The lightest version of Rahman Jr. was in August 2021, according to Box Rec, when he faced Nathan Bedwell and stopped the scales at 220 pounds. While when he had the most tonnage was in April 2017, in his second fight: he faced Demetrius Shaw at 278 pounds.

Thus, the contract signed by Hasim Rahman Jr. to face Jake Paul establishes that the 8-round-fight on August 6will take place in the Cruiserweight division, that is to say at 200 pounds, a first big obstacle for the Gold Blooded. However, on the day of the fight, he cannot weigh more than 215 pounds at the second weigh-in, scheduled for the morning of August 6, according to Boxing Scene.

The Problem Child originally planned to face Tommy Fury. The Brit is also a professional boxer, who boasts a record of 8-0-0, 4 KOs. His clash with Paul was a long shot due to the inexperience of both, but the fight fell through due to immigration issues that prevented Fury from entering the United States.

So far, Jake Paul boasts a record of 5 fights in boxing, all wins, 4 of them by knockout. His opponents, while willing, are light years ahead of the sport’s elite: fellow Youtuber Ali Eson Gib, former basketball player Nate Robinson, and former MMA fighters Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley. His moment of truth has arrived.

Why take the risk of facing Hasim Rahman Jr? Jake Paul reveals

Rahman Jr. has boxing in his blood, as he grew up surrounded by it thanks to his father, Hasim Rahman, who was a successful boxer in the 1990s and 2000s: he had the privilege of becoming a unified World Heavyweight Champion by defeating the iconic Lennox Lewis, as well as facing the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Evander Holyfield and James Toney.

The nicknamed Golden Blood has a record of 12-1-0, 6 KOs, at the age of 31. He has spent his entire career in the heavyweight division. Undoubtedly, it will be a tough, risky test for Jake Paul who could suffer the consequences.

“Nothing but respect for Hasim Rahman Jr., a professional heavyweight boxer with a 12-1 record who comes from a legendary boxing family. He’s bigger, he’s stronger and he’s more experienced. But guess what? I’m crazier. I’m raising the stakes and on August 6, I will get my respect under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.” stated Paul according to Boxing Scene.

Despite the great value that he will bring to Jake Paul’s legacy, Hasim Rahman Jr. himself took it upon himself to ventilate, through a live broadcast on Instagram, that he will be the opponent who will receive the least money from The Problem Child, that is no more than 500 thousand dollars. We will see if he retaliates this “injustice” in the ring.

It seemed inevitable that Fury would step into the ring with Jake Paul, as confirmed by the narrative they both established on Twitter around the bout. However, when it came time to execute concrete actions everything fell apart and Tyson Fury‘s brother was unable to enter the United States, and these immigration issues ended up taking him out of the August 6 fight at Madison Square Garden.

The good news for The Problem Child is that those who criticized him for embarking on a career as a professional boxer and after five official fights and still not having faced any active fighter in the sport, will find a stopper in Hasim Rahman Jr, who is not only an active boxer, but a dangerous opponent that Paul has faced before.

Who is Hasim Rahman Jr, Jake Paul’s new opponent for August 6?

His nickname reveals his essence very well. The Gold Blooded is the son of a fierce ex-boxer and world heavyweight champion, Hasim Rahman. The Rock took the WBC, IBF and IBO belts from Lennox Lewis in 2001. And on his resume are legendary names like Evander Holyfield and Wladimir Klitschko.

Rahman Jr. will represent a tough test for Jake Paul because, right off the bat, he fights in the Heavyweight division, when The Problem Child has roamed the Cruiserweight in all five of his fights. Then, he has a record of 12-1-0, 6 KOs, and close to 100 fights as an amateur and will come to Madison Square Garden thirsty for a win after suffering his first loss in his most recent fight on April 29.

Jake Paul vs Hasim Rahman Jr. has already had previous rounds.

A video has circulated through social media that could be considered round 1 of the fight that will take place on August 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York between Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr. In it you can see both of them after finishing a sparring session that left them very hot and eager to continue exchanging blows. Will it be an accurate preamble of what will happen?