Hasim Rahman Jr. has revealed his entire fight purse for the Madison Square Garden headliner against Jake Paul is at stake. Certain weight cut restrictions are in effect and should he miss the strict targets, he’s forced to sacrifice his pay.
After weeks of back and forth between Paul and Tommy Fury resulting in yet another last-minute cancelation, we now know for certain the social media star is set to face his first real boxer on August 6 when he steps in against Rahman Jr.
Despite stepping up on short notice to help salvage the event, however, Rahman Jr. has revealed some strict conditions in his bout agreement.
Namely, the 6′3″ heavyweight has to abide by certain weight limitations in order to claim his full fight purse. Should he fail and miss said targets, a significant portion of his pay must be sacrificed.
Typically fighting in the heavyweight division, the lightest weight Rahman Jr. has ever stepped on the scale at is roughly 211lbs, he explained on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour.
For the Paul fight, he must weigh in at no more than 200lbs, making it his most extreme weight cut to date.
For professional bouts, once this weight has been recorded the day before an event, fighters are able to rehydrate and replenish their bodies. Often this can lead to rapid weight gains as athletes fuel their systems ahead of the contest.
In this instance, Paul is looking to limit just that. By noon the next day, Rahim Jr. is contractually obligated to weigh in for a second time. At that stage, he must be under 214lbs. For every pound that he’s over, he’s allegedly fined “25% of [his] purse,” he revealed.
While he then has the rest of the day to rehydrate and get his body back on track, this extra requirement reduces the window in which to do so.
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“They leave a lot of stuff out when you’re dealing with Jake Paul and his antics,” he said on the show. “They are that scared. They want to put that much pressure on me to make the weight.”
In the hypothetical scenario that Rahim Jr. comes in four pounds over the limit, this could be two pounds over at first, then two pounds over again for the second weigh in, the boxer would forfeit 100% of his purse, according to the conditions.
If that happens, Rahim Jr. will instead be paid the legal fight “minimum” of just $5,000.
While he agreed to these conditions, he allegedly only had “45 minutes” to do so after being sent his contract. Had he missed that window, the offer would’ve supposedly gone to another fighter instead.
“You’ll never get another chance to fight Jake Paul again if you don’t take it right now,” his team supposedly said during the brief negotiations.
Though even with the irregular weight restrictions, the professional boxer isn’t phased.
“I’m not worried about nothing,” he said. “I’m good. I have the best team around me, the nutritionist has done a great job. I feel like this is my time, the world will know who I am by the end of August 6.”