Hasim Rahman Jr has revealed the contractual penalties in place for his fight against Jake Paul if he fails to make weight.
The YouTube star was meant to be facing Tommy Fury, Heavyweight champ Tyson Fury’s younger brother, but after much back and forth the fight was officially cancelled. Things started to fall apart when the ex-Reality TV star was refused entry into the US when trying to board a plane for the first press conference.
It was then confirmed that Paul would face Hasim Rahman Jr on August 6 at Madison Square Garden.
Momentum has been building for the pay-per-view event, especially when footage emerged of Paul and Rahman Jr sparring each other in the past. And while it is only a ten-second clip the YouTuber landed a thudding right hand on the son of former World Heavyweight Champion Hasim Rahman Sr.
Much has been made about the weight difference between the two opponents with Rahman Jr being a heavyweight who last weighed in at 224lbs. In order to receive his full purse, Rahman must initially make the 200lb limit before a second weigh-in on the morning of the fight where he can go back up to 214lb.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Rahman Jr had this to say about the contractual obligations:
“I am being fined, after four ounces, every pound over I lose 25% of my purse.”
Rahman went on to state the shockingly low amount he could get paid if he comes in over:
“They leave a lot of stuff out when you’re dealing with Jake Paul and his antics. For example, if I came in at 202lb for the weigh-in, and then 216lb for the rehydration weigh-in then I would get the minimum, which I think is $5,000.”
“Of two pounds they are that scared. They want to put all that pressure on me to make the weight to say ‘you’re losing 25% for every pound you’re over’ – so if I come in 204lb, I get the bare minimum which is capped at $5,000.”
Last week, Shawn Porter, the former Welterweight champion spoke to FightHype about the weight limit for the fight and how Paul has all bases covered:
“I’ll give you a hypothetical – let’s say Hasim and his camp understand what he’s trying to do, to get us to suck ourselves down, we’re only going to go here [indicates won’t lose all the weight].”
“They’ll massage it. Jake Paul will massage it. They’ll cancel the fight and then make it all Hasim’s fault and they won’t take the rap for anything.”
“He really has a way of doing this so that he’s covered all of the bases.”
“You take a look at the rehydration clause – he’s covering all of his bases.”
Porter wouldn’t give a prediction for the fight but did state who he wanted to win:
“I think he’s [Rahman Jr] handicapped coming to the fight.”
“I want him to win.”