Heavyweight boxer Rahman Jr. stepped in on short notice to salvage Paul’s Madison Square Garden appearance on August 6. However, he is receiving the lowest compensation of any opponent the YouTuber has faced.
If Hasim Rahman Jr. weighs in more over the 200-pound limit for their bout next month, he would forfeit 25% of his prize money and might walk away with as low as $5,000.
The heavyweight has a record of 12-1 and has boxed several times as both a professional and amateur. He is Paul’s most challenging opponent to date.
Although Hasim isn’t a cruiserweight, he must adhere to a stringent weight restriction to reach the same weight as his competitor.
Additionally, Hasim asserts that Paul’s advertising company Most Valuable Promotions would severely penalize him if he is underweight. The heavyweight’s most recent weight was 224 pounds.
Hasim must now weigh 200 pounds to earn his entire pay before a second weigh-in. His second weigh-in will be held the morning of the bout where he is permitted to weigh 214 pounds.
During an interview on The MMA Hour, Hasim described the stringent requirements. He told the presenter Ariel Helwani:
“I am being fined, after four ounces, every pound over I lose 25 per cent of my purse. 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. That’s because 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 per cent for every pound you’re over’, so if I come in 204lb, I get the bare minimum which is capped at $5,000. It’s a lot that goes into these fights.”
Rahman Jr. is anticipated to be negatively affected by the weight loss since he has never as a professional, weighed less than 211 lbs. He weighed 224 pounds when he lost his previous bout against Kenzie Morrison in Las Vegas.
Originally, Paul was scheduled to fight Tommy Fury. However, the British fighter withdrew owing to scheduling conflicts. Rahman Jr. stepped in to accept the fight; assuming he could meet the weight requirements. However, he will receive the largest career pay for himself and the lowest of all of Paul’s competitors.
Rahman Jr. stated: “Another thing that I wasn’t able to get across at the press conference was that when they offered me this fight, it was like ‘Jake Paul said if you don’t take this now, he will never fight you. If you don’t take this, you’ll never get this opportunity again’.”
He added: “So I’m like, ‘OK, everybody in boxing wants to fight this guy, let me weigh my options and I’ll call you back’. They said, ‘No, you have to respond in 45 minutes at the top of the hour otherwise the offer is off the table and you’ll never ever get the chance again.”
“Mind you, this is the biggest opportunity of my life, it’s not something you can take lightly. So I said, ‘OK, all these cards stacked against me I know I believe in myself,’ and I know I’m going to beat this kid up and I just use everything that’s against me as motivation.”