Hasim Rahman Jr has claimed KSI turned down multiple requests to spar ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.
Rahman Jr will look to bounce back after suffering the first loss of his professional career by inflicting a first defeat on YouTube star Paul, who he faces on August 6 at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Paul's rival KSI - real name JJ Olatunji - will also make his long-awaited ring return against Alex Wassabi, who is signed to a promotional deal with the American star's label, Most Valuable Promotions.
Having had an extensive amateur career in the sport, Rahman Jr believes he will be the man to put a halt to Paul's rapid rise to boxing prominence. However, he will not be sparring KSI to prepare him for the fight, as the Brit preferred him to challenge Viddal Riley. "They can do what they want. KSI would not get in the ring with me, sparring. KSI wouldn't even spar me," Rahman Jr told the No Limits podcast.
"So, I mean he can like, he can retweet, he could do whatever he wants. He wanted Viddal to fight me or whatever because he doesn't want to fight me. I've been trying to spar KSI, when he was in Vegas. 'No, he's too big'. I mean, come on man. These guys got a lot of kid fans, I'm not no kid.
"I'm not a KSI fan, I don't care about nothing he liking, I don't care about retweeting or what we got to say. I don't even know who his manager is. They wanna replay me getting dropped 1,000 times, it don't matter."
Olatunji and Paul have talked up a fight for several years on social media but the pair have yet to settle their differences in a hotly-anticipated clash. Paul was set to meet Tommy Fury next in a huge grudge match of his own, but his opponent was unable to travel to the United States, which saw Rahman Jr step in on late notice.
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The British star offered to bail Paul out from his problem - prior to the latter agreeing to face Rahman Jr - by staging the fight on the undercard of his boxing return against Wassabi. However, Paul promptly declined and will now turn his attentions to being the headline act in his meeting with natural boxer Rahman Jr.
Despite Paul's recent rise during Olatunji's absence from boxing, the YouTube star believes he is the "king" of the sport in the content creator scene and is ready to oust his rival. "Do you not understand who I am? I’m the king baby. It was Joe Weller, Theo Baker and then me.
"I took it to crazy levels and then was like 'I am out, I will do music for a little bit', but now I am back," he said on his YouTube channel. "I have been watching all of these p***** like Jake and Austin [McBroom] thinking they are sick. Just wait."
