Jake Paul canceled his fight with Hasim Rahman Jr. this week. It was no surprise, but WBN knows ticket sales played a part in the decision.
The clash at Madison Square Garden was nowhere near sold out and was on the cusp of being broadcast on Showtime with a more than half-empty stadium.
Jake Paul cancels Hasim Rahman Jr. fight
As one boxing media member stated, “Jake Paul cannot sell,” and his Instagram pulling power is proving to be non-existent in the sport.
The reason given by Paul and his team was a weight issue with Rahman. However, Rahman hasn’t even weighed in, with five days left until the scaling.
Paul could have waited until the night to check the weight of their heavyweight opponent, who they wanted to boil down to cruiserweight in the first place.
The whole thing smells fishy and reeks of Paul wanting nothing to do with a real boxer despite his promises.
Rahman, as you can imagine, was fuming.
Rahman not happy
“Jake and his “team” canceled this fight, not me! The fight isn’t happening on their accord, not mine!
“I have been telling anybody who will listen that this man a fraud and was ready to get exposed. Nobody pulled out of a fight. He was just scared at the end of the day.
“Mind you, me and Kenzie have the same exact managers that initially put this fight together. Why tough Jake ain’t pick the winner of our fight when we both weighed 224?”
On the weight, Rahman added: “How you even believe I only lost one pound when I’m documented rigorously training and dieting since the fight hit been signed?
“You all believe anything. Why doesn’t he have this energy in person, though?
“The biggest payday of my life? I already made four times what you offered off of sparring.
“Now you want to paint the narrative not to let me on anyone’s cards cause you know the people going demand us.
“Time is going to expose this boy, trust me,” concluded Rahman Jr.
Poor tickets sales
Paul’s ticket sales for the fight were far less than fifty percent a week before a massive show at the New York Mecca. This scenario proves that you cannot play boxing no matter how many social media followers you have.
It’s also a lesson to any influencer that it doesn’t matter if you try to give yourself a test. You will get exposed, whether inside or outside of the ropes.
Boxing is a tough business. Jake Paul realizes that now.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
