Hasim Rahman Jr insists he "isn't fighting Jake Paul for the money", and will be paid less than any of the YouTuber's other five opponents.
Paul was due to face Tommy Fury in his sixth professional fight at Madison Square Garden, with the selling point of the bout that he would finally be taking on a "real boxer" due to the Brit's 8-0 record. But after pulling out in December with a broken rib, the Love Island star was again forced to skip the fight due to travel issues.
And Rahman Jr saved the pay-per-view event from being cancelled by stepping up on short notice, offering an even more impressive 12-1 professional record. But Paul's Most Valuable Promotions won't be paying him anything close to the $2million that Fury was rumoured to make, with the American claiming he will make considerably less.
Paul and Rahman Jr, whose following on social media pales in comparison to Fury's millions, have sparred together in the past, but appear to have a fractured relationship. And he laughed off suggestions that he would be "paid off" to lose the fight during an Instagram live session last night, where he revealed his low purse for the event.
"Y'all sound so stupid," he told fans who suggested he was going to be paid to take a dive during an Instagram Live stream yesterday. "He's barely paying me to begin with, so what the f***? I ain't doing this for the money, I'm getting the least amount any Jake opponent ever got, so what are y'all talking about 'he's paying me'? Stop it, stop it, this whole fantasy land you little Jake trolls are living in, that s*** is over with, war Rahman we on some real.
"Bunch of f***ing YouTuber fans, you're about to get something so crazy Inshallah - they look at my last fight, they look at sparring, they can look at whatever. When this killer gets in there, oh yeah, it's going to get real.
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"That man made the worst mistake of his life choosing to fight me, is he crazy? You know what time it is, I'm not getting paid good, I'm not in this for the money, it's the least amount that any of his opponents ever got, it ain't about the money, it was never about that, this is for us."
Rahman Jr had an extensive amateur background, including a fight with Trevor Bryan who would go on to become WBA regular heavyweight champion, before turning professional in 2017. He won his first 12 paid bouts before taking on McKenzie Morrison in April, where he was stopped in the fifth round.
But there was controversy over the finish, and the heavyweight insisted he would be back in the ring quickly after the defeat. Paul has been warned against taking the fight against the Baltimore native by his brother Logan and manager Nakisa Bidarian, but insists that he wants to take on major steps up in competition.
