Former world champion Shawn Porter made an eerily-accurate prediction about exactly how Jake Paul would cancel his fight with Hasim Rahman Jr.
Paul announced last night he was scrapping his sixth professional bout against Rahman Jr which was scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York next weekend. Paul claimed his opponent was unwilling to lose any weight from his 215lb frame despite the bout being contracted at first 200lb and then 205lb.
In response, Rahman has accused Paul of cancelling the fight prematurely and without allowing him to lose as much weight as possible during the final week. And since the news came to light, footage has remerged of Porter, a former two-time welterweight champion, predicting exactly how Paul would cancel the bout.
"They're picking a fighter who was just knocked out but even beyond that he's at a higher weight and they're going to force him to pull his weight down. He's [Paul] very business savvy in the sport of boxing," he told Fight Hub TV two weeks ago. "Hasim Rahman and his camp understand he's trying to get us to suck ourselves down but we're only going to go *here*.
"They'll massage it, Jake Paul, they'll massage it; they'll cancel the fight, massage it and make it all Hasim's fault and they wont take the rap for anything. He really has a way of doing this so that he's covered all of the bases. Even if you take a look at the rehydration clause, he's covering all of his bases."
After a weight limit of 200lb was agreed, Rahman Jr revealed he faced stiff financial penalties if he missed weight, including the prospect of him earning just $5,000 for the fight. He explained the intensive stipulations during an appearance on The MMA Hour, saying: "I am being fined, after four ounces, every pound over I lose 25 per cent of my purse.
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"They leave a lot of stuff out when you're dealing with Jake Paul and his antics. For example, if I came in at 202lb for the weigh in, and then 216lb for the rehydration weigh-in then I would get the minimum, which I think is $5,000.
"That's because of two pounds, they are that scared. They want to put all that pressure on me to make the weight to say, 'You're losing 25 per cent for every pound you're over', so if I come in at 204lb, I get the bare minimum which is capped at $5,000. It's a lot that goes into these fights."
Paul has argued that he agreed to fight at 205lb, considerably above the 190lb he usually weighs in at, but drew the line when Rahman insisted he would not drop below 215lb.
