Hasim Rahman Jr will face Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of KSI's next Misfits Boxing event in Sheffield on October 15 .
The son of former world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman was due to fight Jake Paul earlier this month before the event was cancelled due to weight issues. Now, he will look to earn his way back into a major fight with Paul when he faces former UFC light-heavyweight champion Belfort in a clash of the titans that will net him a six-figure payday for the first time in his career.
KSI won't be fighting when Misfits Boxing returns this year, but he will be promoting the event alongside the Sauerland Brothers of Wasserman Boxing and his manager Mams Taylor. And with a YouTuber fight set to headline the card, Rahman Jr will look to impress the social media audience with a victory over Belfort, who last year knocked out the legendary Evander Holyfield.
Speaking with Mirror Fighting earlier this week, Rahman Jr said: "I'm here to announce my fight, it's a huge fight coming up against a former world champion. I think this fight is the kind of thing that will attract fans of boxing, MMA, YouTube all combat sports and it's going to be fireworks.
"It's not quite Jake Paul but I believe that my opponent is 20 times better than Jake Paul and 50 times better than anybody Jake Paul has fought. KSI said earlier during his press conference that his goal was to expose Jake as the phoney and fraud that he is and I'm on that same page.
"I'm sill chasing him down, but I'm not going to wait for him I want to put the car in drive, put my foot down and keep my finger on the pulse of all this YouTube boxing extravaganza that's going on. I'm in the mix now, and it's going to be very hard to get me out."
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Rahman Jr and Belfort have both made enemies of Paul, although the Brazilian was never particularly close to getting a fight with the 5-0 boxer, who started out as a YouTube star. He called out Paul for a $25million winner-take-all fight after his knockout win over Holyfield, but it was generally laughed off by the social media sensation.
There are a number of options for Rahman Jr, who understands the irony of his career sky-rocketing only after he lost his undefeated record to a brutal knockout defeat against Kenzie Morrison back in April. Paul's team will shortly announce his ring return, and have vowed to never get into business with the boxer again, but he feels that could change with some big performances.
Rahman Jr also has his sights set on eventually earning a shot at the WBC's new bridgerweight world title, which is currently held by Oscar Rivas. In a surprising twist, Mirror Fighting also understands Rahman Jr is not completely opposed to trying, with a proper camp and nutrition plan, to get down to the cruiserweight limit and pursue world honours there.
