By Geno McGahee
It’s fair to say that Jake Paul, 5-0, 4 KO’s, has been treated unfairly with the consistent criticisms he’s received from the boxing world. Paul has not taken on a true boxer, but he shouldn’t have…not yet at least. He’s taken on some name fighters from the MMA and other realms to get the feel of the game and proved that he has power and some boxing skill, leading to an undefeated record.
The first three fights for Paul were very easy, knocking out Ali Eson Gib, one of the worst boxers this world has ever seen, non-boxer, Nate Robinson, and UFC wrestler, Ben Askren, all before the third round. He stepped up against another former UFC champion in Tyron Woodley, 0-2, and would eke by with a split decision win and a highlight reel knockout win in the rematch. Woodley is tough and knows how to fight and he would be tough for any boxer in their initial fights.
Being irritated by the lack of acceptance into the game he loves so much, Paul set up a fight with Tommy Fury, 8-0, 4 KO’s, but the fight fell apart twice, both times because of Fury. This most recent refusal to step into the ring with Paul has led to the odd choice of Hasim Rahman, JR., 12-1, 6 KO’s, a much tougher foe than Fury and one that might put an end to the Paul boxing PPV run.
Rahman, JR., has not faced stellar opposition. The collective record of his 13 opponents is 75 wins, 116 losses and 12 draws. The opponent with the best record was James McKenzie Morrison, 20-0-2, 18 KO’s, but Morrison was another guy that feasted on career-losers in the ring. Rahman, JR., is more of an unknown going into this one than Paul. It can be argued that Woodley is a better fighter than Morrison.
On the limited information from both men’s careers, there are many scenarios that can happen here. This really is a pick’em sort of fight. Rahman, JR., is slightly bigger and has a good style, circling and pot-shotting his opponent. It was working very well against Morrison before he ran out of gas and got caught. Paul has shown some versatility, but all roads lead to his right hand. That is the punch he plans to land on Rahman, JR., and the plan must be to find it in the later rounds.
Paul is coming into this one as a slight betting favorite and it makes sense. Paul has the speed that could make the big difference in the fight. Rahman, JR., poses a lot and throws punches at a much slower speed and tends to push them at times. If he poses too long or pushes his punches, the right hand of Paul is coming and coming hard.
Despite it being his only loss, Rahman, JR., looked his best against Morrison for the first few rounds, but his stamina and the pressure of Morrison killed him in the end. If Rahman, JR., can maintain his wind and counterpunch and avoid the right, he could cruise to a decision win.
PREDICTION
It’s nice to see two boxers in the infancy of their career stepping up to fight each other and both men are legitimate fighters. The first round of this fight will tell the story. Paul will be hit by a real boxer and by a bigger man. This is not a blown up UFC star. This is a boxer with a heavyweight champion father. Paul’s chin will be tested and it could be over early if he’s just a YouTube star that can beat up MMA guys out of their cage, but I don’t see that happening.
Paul should weather the early storm and learned from the Morrison fight that Rahman, JR., panics when consistently pressured. The difference between Morrison and Paul is that Paul has a bigger punch and comes into his fights with strategy.
Jake Paul will be cautious in the first few rounds, deflecting the incoming while walking down Rahman, JR., the best that he can. As Rahman, JR., slows down, the right hands of Paul will take over and the pressure and continued hard punches from Paul will lead to the TKO win in the sixth round, but it’s a really interesting fight.
