Hasim Rahman Jr has claimed he received a "shady" phone call from Jake Paul 's coach before being offered a short-notice fight against the YouTube star.
Paul takes on Rahman in his sixth professional fight on August 6 at Madison Square Garden. 'The Problem Child' was originally booked to fight Tommy Fury at the event, but the Love Island star pulled out of the fight for a second time. Rahman, who holds a record of 12-1, will look to get back in the winning column against Paul having suffered his first professional loss in April.
The son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman explained that Paul's team called him and hinted there was interest in hiring him again as a sparring partner before offering him the fight. Rahman sparred Paul one month after his professional debut against fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib in January 2020.
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“It was a little shady,” Rahman said of Paul's coach's phone call on The MMA Hour. “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 pretence 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.”
Paul has previously been pressed by fans and UFC boss Dana White to fight Silva, who has won three boxing fights since leaving the UFC two years ago. Rahman said that he wanted some time to weigh up Paul's offer when he was offered the fight, but the YouTube star's team gave him less than an hour to respond or the offer would have expired.
“No, 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 said of Team Paul’s offer. Rahman also accused Paul's team of putting "pressure" on him to make the 200lb cruiserweight limit and said he will be fined 25 percent of his purse for each pound he weighs in over the limit.
