“…This guy has made a mistake picking me.” – Rahman Jr.
Las Vegas – July 27, 2022 – The verbal jabs continued one week ahead of the Jake “The Problem Child” Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr. mega-fight as Rahman Jr. participated in an open media workout Tuesday night at DLX Boxing in Las Vegas. He wasted little time dissing Paul as a “mockery of our sport” saying he respected Paul’s work ethic, but that he is looking to “expose him for the fraud he is.”
The cruiserweight clash scheduled for eight rounds will take place on Saturday, August 6 live on SHOWTIME PPV (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tickets can be purchased at www.msg.com.
Here is what the principals had to say Tuesday night:
Hasim Rahman Jr.
“We’ve had an amazing camp and I just want to thank my team. From my track coach to my strength and conditioning, all my coaches have been there for me. Just taking care of every little thing down to my nutritionist preparing my meals. Everyone is in sync and we’re ready to go.
“There’s nothing Jake Paul does that concerns me. I’m just super confident going into this fight. I feel like this guy is not at my level. He made a mistake picking me.
“Being in Vegas is amazing. My family and I came here because of boxing and we’ve been training for what could be the biggest fight of the year. It’s on me now and I have Vegas on my back. I have a lot of support and this is my home. I love it here. There’s not a better place to be and then to go from here to the mecca of boxing next week is just a beautiful thing. It’s poetry in motion.
“Fighting in Madison Square Garden happened so fast – I didn’t think it would happen so fast. But it’s here and I’m ready and I know what I signed up for. We’re going to go in there and make it look easy.
“I respect his work ethic but come August 6 I look to expose him for the fraud he is.
“It’s similar to when my father knocked out Lennox Lewis. He had a target on his back. I’m looking to do the same thing and to get that target on my back so I can fight for a world championship.
“I just have one final message: Jake Paul is going to fall!”
Hasim Rahman Sr.
“We’re looking forward to knocking Jake out. I feel like when you get a certain status you start feeling you’re invincible. You start thinking you can do it all. But it’s one thing to say something, and another thing to go out there and do it. So when he has to go out and do it, he’s going to realize it wasn’t as easy as he thought it was going to be. Once he wakes up.
“I just feel like we don’t have to look for a KO. I just feel like we have superior boxing skills. His boxing IQ is much greater than Jake Paul’s and I just personally feel like the knockout is going to come.
“Timing beats speed. We got the bigger, stronger fighter. We’ve got the reach advantage. We control the distance of the fight. We control how this fight goes. If we want to make it a slugfest, we will make it a slugfest. If we want to make it a boxing clinic, we’ll make it a boxing clinic. It all depends on what style we want to fight. The fight you are going to see will be dictated by us.
“We’re not really concerned with Jake Paul’s power. We don’t need to show how good our chin is. We don’t need to show what his right hand can do. What we can do is take his right hand away from him. We aren’t going to get hit with the right hand, but if we do we are going to fire back with our own counter. It’s going to be an interesting fight. Jake Paul can fight. Don’t get it twisted. But I’m not impressed by the knockouts he’s had. I don’t really feel like he’s knocked out a fighter yet.”
Yoel Judah, Rahman Jr.’s trainer
“I see Rahman Jr. winning in the sixth round. He’s confident and he’s doing everything by the book. He wants this fight. Jake made a big mistake.
“We’ve been working on everything. Movement, speed, and mainly stamina. We know he has really good punching power, and legs. So, if we get good stamina, we know we are good.
“The best thing about Jake Paul is he’s probably going to be in great shape. But you’re fighting a real boxer now. Good punching power and good combinations and someone who is not afraid of you and who is going to bring the fight to you.
“I’ve been with Hasim about four, five years. He’s right there. He’s where he’s supposed to be for this fight. I see him three years from now fighting for a world championship.”
The Paul vs. Rahman and Serrano vs. Carabajal event is co-produced by SHOWTIME PPV and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), a company founded by Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. Holden Boxing will be the licensed promoter and Paul and Bidarian will serve as executive producers for the event. The pay-per-view telecast is produced and distributed by SHOWTIME PPV.
