Jake Paul to fight replacement Hasim Rahman Jr. at MSG after withdrawal of Tommy Fury

Jake Paul has a new opponent for his boxing match at Madison Square Garden next month after the withdrawal of Tommy Fury.

Hasim Rahman Jr., son of the former boxing heavyweight champion of the same name, will replace Fury and fight Paul on Aug. 6 in New York, Paul told ESPN on Thursday. Rahman, a Baltimore native, is 12-1 as a pro boxer with six knockouts. The eight-round contest will be contested at 200 pounds.

Rahman, a 31-year-old heavyweight, is not a household name, but he has more experience than Paul (5-0) in boxing and is bigger. But Paul, the YouTube-star-turned-prizefighter, said he had already decided he would fight a real boxer in his next bout after a bevy of criticism that he was only interested in fighting older MMA fighters or athletes from other sports. Rahman, Paul believes, is a much harder opponent than Fury would have been.

«I'm literally crazy,» Paul said. «There's no reason why I should be taking this fight.… 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 is bigger than Tommy Fury, faster than Tommy Fury — all of these things. And I'm gonna put on the performance of a lifetime and just shut everyone up.»

Paul's business partner Nakisa Bidarian, the founder of BAVAFA Sports, told ESPN that he advised Paul to not take the bout with Rahman, because of its high-risk, low-reward, short-notice nature. Paul said his brother Logan also told him he shouldn't take the fight. Bidarian said Amanda Serrano, the women's boxing titleholder and part of the double main event with Paul on Aug. 6, told him the card should just be postponed.

Rahman will be the toughest test of Paul's young career by a wide margin. It doesn't hold the same