Notebook: Paul, Rahman Jr. finalizing bout at 200 pounds with fight day weight check

Lomachenko plans to return in the fall; Broner-Figueroa card details; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jul 08, 2022

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Jake Paul announced via social media on Thursday that he will indeed fight Hasim Rahman Jr. in place of Tommy Fury in the main event of a Showtime PPV card on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“Bigger. Stronger. More experienced. KO power,” Paul tweeted. “But it doesn’t matter. They don’t have my heart, don’t have my drive & definitely don’t have my team. August 6 I’m showing the world that Jake Paul is a bad motherfucker.”

He added there would be a press conference on Tuesday and soon after his post, Showtime backed it up with its own tweet that read, “New opponent. Same time. Same place.”

While the camps are planning the fight, they still have business to finalize. The fight is not signed nor has the Rahman camp agreed to a financial package yet, a source with knowledge of the details told Fight Freaks Unite.

Assuming the fight is finalized, Paul and Rahman Jr., the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman Sr., will meet in an eight-round fight contracted at the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds, according to a source. That would be the heaviest of Paul’s career by nearly 10 pounds.

Rahman, who sparred with Paul a few years ago, has fought his entire career as a heavyweight. He has been as heavy as 269 pounds for a fight and as light as 211.75 pounds.

In his last fight, Rahman (12-1, 6 KOs), 31, a Baltimore native, weighed 224 pounds when he suffered his first defeat by fifth-round knockout to James McKenzie Morrison, the son of the late former heavyweight star Tommy Morrison, on April 29 in Las Vegas.

Because of the size difference, Paul and Rahman will be contractually required to participate in a private weight check at 12 p.m. on the day of the fight at which they cannot weigh more than 214 pounds, according to the source.

“I want to show people I can knock out a professional boxer,” Paul said in a video Thursday. “So, Hasim Rahman Jr. is a heavyweight, he’s bigger than Tommy Fury, stronger than Tommy Fury. His dad was the heavyweight champion of the world. He has more amateur fights than Tommy Fury, so this is a harder fight in my opinion. I want to challenge myself. I want to show the fans, ‘Yo, I’m crazy!’

“I’m literally crazy. There’s no way that I should be taking this fight. I’m crazy. I want to prove to the boxing world that I’m a real dog, which I am. And I’m gonna go in there against this 12-1 kid, who’s bigger than Tommy Fury, faster than Tommy Fury, all of these things and I am going to put on the performance of a lifetime and just shut everyone up.”

Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Cleveland, a popular figure on YouTube and social media, began boxing professionally in 2020 and has generated millions of dollars even though his opponents have not been boxers by trade. Fury, the half brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, was supposed to be his first opponent who was a full-time boxer.

However, Paul terminated their agreement at the deadline he set on Wednesday because Fury (8-0, 4 KOs), 23, claims he has been unable to get his paperwork in order to be able to travel from his home country of England to the United States. Their kickoff news conference last week in New York was canceled because of it.

It is the second time that Paul-Fury fell apart. They were supposed to fight in December in Tampa but Fury withdrew claiming a rib injury and chest infection. Paul instead faced former UFC star Tyron Woodley in a short-notice rematch and brutally knocked him out in the sixth round.

Lomachenko eyes fall return

Former pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko is eyeing a fall return to the ring, according to Top Rank president Todd duBoef.

The two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and former world champion in three divisions — featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight — would like to return as soon as October.

He last fought on Dec. 11 and dominated former lightweight titleholder Richard Commey in a unanimous decision victory at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lomachenko then agreed to challenge then-unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in his first defense on June 5 in Melbourne, Australia, Kambosos’ home country.

However, in mid-March, Lomachenko, who had not yet signed for the fight with Kambosos, bowed out in order to remain at home in Ukraine, where he had joined a territorial defense battalion to help defend his country in the war against Russia, which launched an unprovoked invasion in February.

For the details on what is going on read my full story on Big Fight Weekend: https://bigfightweekend.com/news/lomachenko-tells-top-rank-hell-be-ready-to-fight-this-fall/

Broner-Figueroa card update

The welterweight fight between Adrien Broner and Omar Figueroa Jr., both faded former titleholders coming off long layoffs, now has a date and site. The fight will headline a Showtime tripleheader on Aug. 20 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, sources with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming a BoxingScene report.

Fight Freaks Unite previously reported that the card would be in August and not July 23 in Chicago, which some outlets inaccurately reported.

Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs), 32, of Cincinnati, who has had numerous issues outside the ring, is a four-division titlist but he has boxed only three times since 2017 and is 1-1-1 during the stretch with his decision over Jovanie Santiago in his last fight in February 2021 heavily disputed.

Former lightweight titlist Figueroa (28-2-1, 19 KOs), 32, of Weslaco, Texas, has also only had three fights since 2017 and lost his last two, most recently by one-sided sixth-round knockout to Abel Ramos in May 2021.

There will be two other title bouts on the telecast:

WBA junior lightweight titlist Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), 27, of Venezuela, will face mandatory challenger Hector Garcia (15-0, 10 KOs), 30, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic. The fight was slated for July 10 in Caracas, Venezuela, but that fell through recently when the government pulled its funding of the event, leaving Gutierrez promoter Golden Boy and PBC, which works with Garcia, to re-work their deal ahead of a scheduled July 12 purse bid. They finalized the fight on Thursday, according to a source involved.
A deal for a fight between Albert Puello (20-0, 10 KOs), 27, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, and Batyr Akhmedov (9-1, 8 KOs), 31, a southpaw from Ukraine, for the vacant WBA junior welterweight title is not done yet, according to sources, but it is expected to be finalized. They will meet for the 140-pound belt stripped from Josh Taylor, who elected not to face mandatory challenger Puello after becoming the undisputed champion.

Quick hits

The WBA is moving its headquarters to Houston, according to Gilberto Mendoza, president of the sanctioning body. It has been based in Panama for many years after having previously been based in Venezuela although founded in the United States in 1921. “After 100 years, the pioneer sanctioning body shall be back in America,” Mendoza said. “It’s the right time to settle back in the most influential boxing market of the sport. Besides seeking to bond with every single member of the American boxing community, we come to support the systematic development of boxing. It needs to be from its roots. USA has talent in every corner and boxing has proven to be a path of success for many athletes. The headquarters will be in the city of Houston, Texas — a great sports town that witnessed great human beings and champions of the world. Juan ‘Baby Bull’ Diaz and Jermell Charlo were motivation to choose the Space City as the WBA’s new hometown.”

Show and tell

The late Hall of Famer Ezzard Charles — known by the awesome nickname of “The Cincinnati Cobra” — was one of the greatest fighters of all time. After a stellar amateur career, he boxed professionally from 1940 to 1959 and fought a who’s who of his time. He won the vacant NBA heavyweight title by 15-round decision over Jersey Joe Walcott in 1949 in the first of their four fights and then earned universal recognition as champion when he routed Joe Louis via 15-round decision after Louis, who had retired as champion, unretired two years later. Charles, who never weighed over 200 pounds for a fight, would lose the title to Walcott by seventh-round knockout in 1951 in their third fight and later lose two title fights to Rocky Marciano in 1954. For all of his exploits at heavyweight, Charles, who served in the U.S. Army during World Ward II, is viewed by many as the greatest light heavyweight of all time even though he never got the opportunity to challenge for the title. Charles beat the likes of Joey Maxim five times, Jimmy Bivens four times, Archie Moore three times, Charley Burley, Lloyd Marshall and Walcott twice apiece, among others notable wins.

Charles was named fighter of the year in 1949 and 1950 by Ring magazine, which also has ranked him as the No. 1 light heavyweight of all time. Charles, who died ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) at age 53 in 1975, was born on July 7, 1921 — 101 years ago on Thursday. Here is a mint Charles card from the 1956 Adventure set in my collection.

Lomachenko photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Broner photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime

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