HASIM RAHMAN JR believes Jake Paul taking confidence from their sparring session is his “biggest mistake”.
The pair have twice sparred each other, most recently in Las Vegas two years ago.
Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr have sparred before
But Rahman has insisted he was told to hold back during the rounds and warned Paul against taking stock in how they both performed.
He said: “It was not even a 50 per cent effort on my part when I was sparring Jake Paul but he believes it was 100 percent effort.
“I think that’s his biggest mistake. This is the biggest mistake of his career.”
Paul sparred Rahman before his first two professional wins, over YouTuber “AnEsonGib” and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson, 38.
He later went on to beat former MMA champions Ben Askren, 37, and Tyron Woodley, 40, to stretch his record to 5-0.
Rahman, 31, has claimed he walked Paul, 25, through their sparring sessions and deliberately restricted himself.
He said: “The entire session I was talking to him, telling him to control his breathing.
“I was telling him, ‘Don’t go that way, you’re going to run into my right hand.’ Didn’t hit him with the right hand.
“Or [saying,] ‘Don’t go that way, you’re going to run into the left hook’.
“Didn’t hit him with the left hook. Just little stuff, just trying to teach him step by step.”
Paul was due to fight Tommy Fury, 23, on August 6 at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden.
But he was unable to sort a US visa issue which restricted him from travelling to America, as Rahman signed to fill in as Fury’s replacement.
Jake Paul is set to fight Hasim Rahman Jr on August 6
