- Jake Paul lashed out at Hasim Rahman Jr. for pulling out from their bout
- “The Problem Child” likened Rahman Jr.’s withdrawal to that of Tommy Fury
- The YouTube star apologized to everyone
Die-hard Jake Paul fans were deeply disappointed after his highly-touted boxing match with Hasim Rahman Jr. was scrapped. Apparently, “The Problem Child” himself feels the same way too.
News broke that Rahman Jr. missed weight and all parties were left with no choice but to call it off. Shortly after the cancellation, a “devastated” Paul addressed the issue and implied that his foe decided to withdraw and chickened out just like Tommy Fury, his past opponent who pulled out from their fight due to various reasons.
Scared and unprofessional
According to Paul, he’s “sick of” fighters like Fury and Rahman Jr. who often cower and try to “suck more money” out of their matches. The YouTuber pointed out that he knew outright that Rahman Jr. doesn’t have the courage to take him on inside the ring simply because he is well aware “he’s going to get knocked out.”
“This is just another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury being scared to fight me,” Paul exclaimed. “It’s as clear as day that these guys have been so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to suck more money out of this event, to coerce us into doing things. From the jump, I knew in the bottom of my heart that this guy didn’t want to get in there with me. It’s clear as day.”
“The biggest payday of his life times 10 and he’s fumbling it. For what? Because he knows he’s going to get knocked out by me. The pressure starts to set in. It’s exactly what happens with all of these guys. Same sh*t with Tommy Fury. I’m sick of it.”
Just wait for an update
In the end, Paul genuinely apologized to everyone who has exhausted time and effort in pulling off the event, including unified featherweight boxing champ Amanda Serrano, who was supposed to fight Brenda Carabajal in that card.
Despite the disappointment, “The Problem Child” said he’ll be “back at some point.”
“I apologize to everyone on the undercard. Amanda Serrano, I know you were working hard. Ashton Sylve, I know you were working hard. This is absurd. There’s nothing I can do about it. I apologize for the fans. I’ll be back at some point.”
Rahman Jr. tells a different story
Unsurprisingly, Rahman Jr. hit back at Paul and shared his side of the story. The boxer detailed on social media that it was never about the money as he’s confident he could knock “The Problem Child” out “with one hand.”
As per Rahman Jr., they could’ve found a solution to his weight issues but it was Paul who didn’t want to carry on with the fight.
“I signed the contract to make 200 lbs within the three or three-and-a-half weeks that I had to do it, but I couldn’t do it. My body simply would not let me do it, would not let me get down to 200 lbs,” Rahman said on Instagram. “But where in boxing do you see them canceling fights a whole week in advance? I didn’t even get my last week to get down as low as I could. I told this man, ‘If there’s penalties involved, keep the purse. Keep the purse. I’ll fight you for the $5,000 minimum.’ That’s how much it means to me and that’s how much faith I have in knocking him out. I would have beat this man with one hand just like I did in the gym.”
“But let him tell it, he already beat my ass in the gym when I was 230. So if you beat me up while I was 230, what’s the problem in fighting me when I’m 215? What’s the problem fighting me at 210? It’s clearly them not wanting to fight. It’s not me pulling out of the fight, it’s them not wanting the fight.”
All told, there’s a great chance Tommy Fury wouldn’t also let this one slide and who knows, maybe this could rekindle the Paul vs. Fury fight. Or maybe, all parties decide to fix things up and continue with the Paul vs. Rahman Jr. bout. Let’s wait and see.