Jake Paul and Hasim Rahman Jr clash at Madison Square Garden is OFF

Jake Paul and and Hasim Rahman Jr’s showdown next week has been canceled with the former YouTuber claiming it was ‘clear as day’ that his opponent did not want to face him in the ring. 

The fight which was due to take place at Madison Square Garden on August 6, was canceled on Saturday night due to an issue with Rahman’s weight. 

Paul’s promotion team, Most Valuable Promotions, announced the news on Saturday night as they said they could not work with someone who was conducting themselves in ‘such a deceiving and calculated manner’. 

The former YouTuber later took to social media to claim that Rahman, like Tommy Fury, was scared to face him in the ring. 

‘First Tommy Fumbled and now Hasim Rahman Crumbled,’ Paul wrote on Twitter Saturday night. 

‘These boxers are the most difficult people to work with and continually lack professionalism and confidence to fight me. I apologize to all of the of the other fighters on the card, our partners, our team and the fans.’ 

The bout was called off over a disagreement about Rahman’s weight. According to Paul’s promotion company, Rahman had lost less than one pound than he had initially agreed to for the fight – which was supposed to take place at a max of 200 pounds. 

Rahman weighed 216 pounds on July 7 and had reportedly offered assurance to Paul’s team that he was on track to make weight at the weigh in on August 5. 

However, Paul’s camp claim that it ‘became clear that these assurances were not made in good faith’. 

Paul had originally not wanted to go above 205 lbs. but after Rahman weighed less than one pound less on Friday than he had on July 7 the New York State Athletic Commission said it would not sanction the fight at less than 205 lbs. 

The former YouTuber’s team claimed Paul was willing to move forward with the fight at a 205 lbs. limit but Rahman’s team indicated they wanted the fight to take place at 215 lbs. 

Paul and his promotion team said they were not willing to work with someone who was conducting themselves in ‘such a deceiving and calculated manner’ and the fight was scrapped. 

Paul called an ’emergency press conference’ as he posted a video to his Twitter account where he branded Rahman ‘unprofessional’, before immediately changing his bio to read: ‘Hasim Rahman Jr and Tommy Fury were both too afraid to fight me and I’m not the “real boxer”… lololol.’

‘Alrighty folks, emergency press conference,’ he said. ‘You may have seen the news Hasim Rahman Jr. has pulled out of the fight this is not a joke. 

‘I am devastated. I cannot f*****g believe this. We just found out this news. 

‘This is just another case of a professional boxer, just like Tommy Fury, being scared to fight me. It’s as clear as day that these guys have been so unprofessional to work with, looking for any excuse to such more money out of this event. To coerce us into doing things. 

‘And from the jump I knew from the bottom of my heart that this guys didn’t want to get into the ring with me it’s as clear as day.’

Paul was initially supposed to face off against Tommy Fury, younger brother of Tyson Fury. 

But that clash was also called off earlier this month when Fury had to pull out due to a visa issue that saw him turned away from the airport.

Paul grew frustrated with Fury after he pulled out of their fight for the second time, claiming that the 23-year-old needs the fight.

He even threatened to sue Fury after his dad, John Fury, mentioned he ‘wasn’t exactly in training.’

Paul tweeted: ‘I should sue this fool. Own dad exposes why he pulled out a second time.’

Paul then turned to Rahman, the son of the former heavyweight champion who had fought entirely at heavyweight in his 13 pro bouts, weighing as much as 278 pounds.

The card was also to include women’s star Amanda Serrano defending her featherweight title.