During this video interview with Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV, former welterweight champion Shawn Porter gives his analysis of Jake Paul’s upcoming fight against Hasim Rahman Jr, and why he believes the fight has been set up to lean heavily in Paul’s favor from the get-go. Check out some of what Porter had to say below.
On if there’s particular reason why Rahman was chosen as an opponent
“Your thoughts are the same as mine. They’re picking a fighter that practically just got knocked out…but even beyond that he’s in a higher weight division, they’re going to ask him, force him, to pull his weight down. And I don’t know how Jake Paul, to be as young as he is, he’s very business savvy and somehow, someway he’s very business savvy in the sport of boxing.
“Let’s say Hasim Rahman and his camp understand that he’s trying to get us to suck ourselves down, we’re only going to go (so far). They’ll massage it, Jake Paul. They’ll massage it, they’ll cancel the fight, and make it seem all Hasim’s fault, and they won’t take the rap for anything. He really has a way of doing this so that he’s covered all those bases. So even if you look at the rehydration clause, he’s covering all of his bases.
“I’ve known Rock for a while, my dad trained Rock maybe once, and he just has to work hard in preparation for this fight. He cannot take Jake Paul lightly and he has to be ready to go the distance and remain upwards to 90% of the distance of the fight.”
On if he thinks Rahman is severely handicapped in this fight
“I think he’s handicapped coming into the fight. I want him to win.
“Hasim looked ready at the press conference…I think the rehydration protocol is going to be a problem. I think the weight itself is going to be a problem.”