HASIM RAHMAN JR has accused Jake Paul of being “SCARED” to fight him at heavyweight after inserting a rehydration clause in their contract.
Rahman signed to fight Paul on a month’s notice at the 200lb cruiserweight limit of 14st 4lb.
Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman ahead of their August 6 fight
But having last fought at 224lb in April, the American will need to shed almost TWO STONE before hitting the scales on August 5.
Furthermore, Paul has also inserted a rehydration clause meaning Rahman cannot be above 215lb during a second-day weigh-in.
The son of ex-heavyweight champion Hasim Sr is not restricted to what weight he enters the ring at, but slammed the fight clause.
Rahman, 31, told SunSport: “Jake’s scared, if not he would have fought me at heavyweight. Especially with it being at late notice.
“He wouldn’t have tried to drain me down to 200lb and cheat me under 210lb. That’s what they tried to do.
“Then they shoot me a contract and say, ‘Here, it’s take-it-or-leave it. If you don’t take it, you’ll never, ever, get an opportunity to fight Jake Paul again’.
“Every boxer on the planet wants to fight Jake Paul. Everyone wants to beat this dude up. So, of course I took it.”
Paul, 25, was due to fight Tommy Fury, 23, at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden.
But again Fury was forced to be withdrawn amid a US visa issue, having last year pulled out with a rib injury.
Rahman has not returned since his first career defeat, to McKenzie Morrison, 31, the son of former champ Tommy.
But he has been training ever since the loss and put to bed any suggestions of being unprepared.
Rahman said: “I’ve been in training since my last fight.
“I came right to New York after I suffered my first defeat, I wanted to get that behind me.
“I think I took May off. I stayed in Vegas for May, got my head clear, got my body back right and as soon as June hit I was back in New York training.
“It don’t stop, we’re going to be ready come August 6th.”
Rahman sparred Paul 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.
Rahman claimed Paul’s team first approached him for sparring ahead of a potential bout against southpaw veteran Anderson Silva, 47.
But after revealing his weight and training situation, he said the request for sparring was then changed to an official fight offer.
Rahman revealed: “I know why he picked me, I know why he feels like he’s going to be successful.
“It’s not anything that I don’t know as far as the situation. They called me originally for sparring.
“They tried to set me up with like, ‘Hey, what you doing? Where’s your weight?’ They tried hitting me with the okey-doke.
“Then an hour it was like, ‘Oh, we want to fight. We’re not bringing you in for sparring, we want to fight you’.
“So it’s nothing that I didn’t see coming.”
Jake Paul has twice sparred Hasim Rahman Jr
