That morning, however, former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman’s son cannot weigh more than 215 pounds when he enters the ring to fight Jake Paul the night of August 6. Rahman revealed during their press conference Tuesday at Madison Square Garden that Paul’s team required him to agree to a rehydration clause that will allow Rahman to gain a maximum of 15 pounds between their official weigh-in the afternoon of August 5 and a second-day weigh-in the morning of August 6.
The contracted maximum for their eight-round fight is 200 pounds, the limit for the cruiserweight division in which Paul has competed throughout his brief boxing career. Rahman can gain as much weight as he sees fit between the second-day weigh-in and the opening bell, but he believes Paul will have an unfair advantage due to the rehydration clause.
“Don’t forget you stacked the deck,” Rahman told Paul in one of several contentious exchanges during their press conference. “Don’t forget you got a stacked deck. You try to bring me down to cruiserweight and then put a rehydration clause in the contract. Don’t forget about none of that. Don’t forget none of that. [The offer was] take it or leave it. Don’t forget that’s take it or leave it. That was take it or leave it.”
Paul criticized Rahman for making excuses regarding the career-long heavyweight’s contractual restriction.
“I’m not making no excuses,” Rahman said. “I’m tellin’ the truth, because you leavin’ it out. … . Let the people know. Let the people know. You always talkin’ about, ‘Oh, he’s bigger than me. Oh, he’s a heavyweight,’ and all this stuff and all that. That’s cut, because we coming to cruiserweight.”
The 31-year-old Rahman (12-1, 6 KOs) has never weighed in at less than 211¾ pounds for any of his 13 professional fights. The Baltimore native weighed 224 pounds for his last fight, a fifth-round, technical-knockout loss to James McKenzie Morrison, a son of late WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison, on April 29 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
“We already close, man,” said Rahman, who replaced Tommy Fury as Paul’s opponent on barely one month’s notice. “We already close. I’m not worried about the weight. I was just in camp for a fight. And then I came and I got right back in the gym. I came to New York. I was already in the gym when they called for the fight, so I’m not worried about the weight. The weight not a factor. I fought at 200 pounds for years in the amateurs.
“I haven’t fought there as a pro yet, but I’m looking forward to bringing back them amateur days and bringing back even some things that I was doing in the amateurs, that I haven’t done in the pros yet. It’s almost like I’m fighting an amateur. So, losing the weight is exciting for me and it’s gonna open up doors for me to even do even more in the boxing ring.”
