Jake Paul will no longer fight Hasim Rahman Jr.
The YouTube sensation was set to compete against Rahman Jr. on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York. However, it appears that the fight will no longer be going through as planned due to weight concerns.
Jake Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr. scrapped
Rahman Jr. was unable to reach the agreed weight limit for the headlining bout. Paul’s promotion company, Most Valuable Promotions, announced the update of the cancellation on Saturday.
“On July 5, Hasim Rahman Jr. signed a bout agreement to fight Jake Paul on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden at a maximum weight of 200 pounds. At the time of signing, Rahman provided evidence of his weight to give comfort to Most Valuable Promotions and the New York State Athletic Commission that he would not be losing more than 10 percent of his weight over the four weeks leading up to the fight.
“Since weighing in at 216 pounds on July 7, Rahman and his camp have offered assurance after assurance publicly and privately that he was on track to make weight at the weigh-in on Aug. 5, going as far as to provide a letter signed by a recognized nutritionist that his weight cut was progressing without issue per New York State Athletic Commission’s required weekly weight checks. In the last 48 hours, it has become clear that these assurances were not made in good faith.”
#PaulRahman has been cancelled. Refunds for all ticket and PPV purchases will be provided. Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/thnjyjUEMT
— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) July 31, 2022
“On Friday, Rahman submitted a weight check to the New York State Athletic Commission that demonstrated he had lost less than one pound since originally signing to take the fight 24 days prior. This prompted the commission to declare that it would not sanction the fight at less than 205 pounds.
“Still, Jake Paul was prepared to move forward with the fight at this new weight and a new contract was sent to Rahman’s promoter reflecting a 205-pound limit, imposing strict penalties should he fail to make weight. Upon receiving this new contract Saturday morning, Rahman’s camp indicated for the very first time that he planned to weigh 215 pounds at the official weigh-in and would not agree to weigh in at 205 pounds and informing Most Valuable Promotions that they are pulling out of the fight unless the fight was agreed to at 215 pounds.
“MVP and Jake Paul will not reward someone that has conducted themselves in such a deceiving and calculated manner. Therefore, MVP is left with no choice but to cancel the Aug. 6 event. This forced outcome impacts Jake Paul, Amanda Serrano and every other fighter on this card who have trained tirelessly over the past few months for this event. The boxing community must hold Hasim Rahman Jr. liable for his lack of professionalism.
“There has been endless work, time and money put into building this event and we want to thank our team, Showtime, Madison Square Garden, Holden Boxing and all of our partners for their continued support. Above everything, we want to thank our fans for their commitment to the athletes and the sport of boxing.”
There’s a bit of an unfortunate development since Paul was originally supposed to fight Tommy Fury on Aug. 6, but Fury was denied entry into USA. According to various reports, the denial was attributed to the Fury family’s association with Daniel Kinahan, an alleged criminal figure.
As a result of Rahman’s behavior after the cancellation announcement was made, Paul blasted him, and apologized to all other fighters affected by it.
“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 of the other fighters on the card, our partners, our team and the fans.”
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
Ticket and pay-per-view refunds will be issued for the now-cancelled card, according to Paul’s team.
