‘The Pressure Begins’

Jack Paul He says he knew this would happen from the jump.

According to the most valuable advertisements, Hasim Rahman Jr Promotion, commission and Paul cheated his weight. After Rahman Jr. requested to move the bout from cruiserweight (200 pounds) to a contracted weight of 215 pounds, the promotion canceled the bout — and was scheduled for August 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

While Paul initially released a brief written comment, he went more in-depth in a pair of videos uploaded to social media. The videos served as a two-part explanation of what happened and why the event was eventually called off.

“It’s another case of a professional boxer, like Tommy Fury, being afraid to fight me,” Paul said. “It’s clear as day that these guys are not fit to work and are looking for any excuse to siphon more money from this event and force us to do things. From the jump, I knew deep in my heart that this guy didn’t want to be there with me. It is clear as day.

Paul echoed much of the initial press release for his promotion, the most prestigious ad said. He said Rahman Jr. never wanted to gain weight, but when the pressure came, he used it as an excuse to back out.

“It’s the biggest payday of his life 10 times over and he’s tripping over it,” Paul said. “For what? Because he knows he’s going to get knocked out by me. The pressure is on. It happens right to all these guys. Same shot as Tommy Fury. I’m sick.”

Paul ended by apologizing to the rest of the fighters scheduled to compete on the card, particularly Amanda Serrano and Ashton Sylve.

You can read the transcript of Paul’s full explanation below:

“Okay, folks. Emergency press conference. You may have seen the news. Hashim Rahman Jr. pulled out of the fight. This is not a joke. I am destroyed. I can’t believe this. We just got this news. This is another case of a professional boxer, like Tommy Fury, being afraid to fight me. It’s clear as day that these guys are unfit to work, looking for any excuse to siphon more money into this incident and force us to do things. From the jump, I knew deep in my heart that this guy didn’t want to be there with me. It is clear as day. Here’s what happened, long story short. So he signed a contract to fight me at 200 pounds and was going to cut weight to 200 pounds. It’s not a big cut for him. He’s a big guy who loses a ton of weight. He sent video to the commission for the first time weighing 216 pounds. The commission wanted to monitor his weight loss to make sure he was doing it in a healthy way. After three weeks, the commission asked him to update his weight. He posts a video of himself weighing 215 pounds — meaning in three weeks, he’s only lost one pound. So the commission said, ‘Hey, man. You’re not losing weight properly. We don’t want you to lose everything on the last day. This fight should be moved to 205 pounds. My team calls me. They said, ‘Hey, man. They want to change the weight to 205 pounds. That’s a big difference. We usually fight at 190 pounds. Do you still want to fight?’ I said, ‘No problem. Let’s do it. 205 pounds. He already has the weight advantage, the height advantage, the reach advantage, all of that. But whatever. I’ll still kick his ass at 205 pounds. And it was. We are moving forward. Today, out of nowhere, his team called and said, ‘Hasim is no less than 215 pounds. If the fight isn’t 215 pounds, we pull out. My manager goes, ‘Do yourself. You are not in control of this.’ We had already agreed on five more pounds. He is a great man. Everyone knows that losing 10 pounds is easy with boxing. The UFC champions cut 25 pounds overnight to make weight. A 10-pound weight loss is nothing for a heavyweight. ‘Well, isn’t the fight at 215? We were out.’ The biggest payday of his life is 10 and he stumbles upon it. why Because he knew he was going to get knocked out by me. The pressure begins. This is exactly what happens to all of these guys. Same shot for Tommy Fury. I’m not sick. I am destroyed. Apologies to everyone on the undercard. Amanda Serrano, I know you work hard. Ashton Sylve, I know you work hard. This is ridiculous. I can’t do anything about it. I apologize for the fans. I will be back at some point.