A final word on Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. cancellation: It was Junior's fault

I’m tired of the continuing nonsense over the cancellation of the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. fight that was supposed to have taken place this past Saturday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden, so let’s get a few things straight and let this be the last word on the debacle.

First and foremost, the fight being called off is Rahman’s fault and definitely not Paul’s.

It’s all on Rahman. Period.

He is the one who signed to fight at 200 pounds, already an advantage over Paul, who normally fights at about 190. By all accounts Rahman lied about what he weighed when the fight was signed — not Paul, who was finally doing what many boxing fans/Paul haters wanted him to do, which is fight an actual boxer since all five of his pro fights had come against opponents who were not full-time boxers.

When Tommy Fury, an actual boxer and half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, dropped out of the fight (again), Rahman, the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman Sr., was offered the bout.

Before Paul would go forward his team understandably wanted proof that Junior, a full-time heavyweight, could make 200 pounds. Rahman sent a video to Team Paul of him on a scale that read 216 as proof. With a month go to go until the fight, losing 16 pounds normally would not be a huge deal and he signed on July 5 for easily the biggest fight of his career.

But making 200 pounds would be a big deal if you actually weighed 232 pounds. After the fight was canceled, Rahman promoter Greg Cohen told me that is what Rahman weighed when he accepted the fight. Turns out the scale in the video sent to Paul was rigged to convince him that Rahman could make 200 pounds.

It is here where things should be obvious — if you know you are that over the contract