Tony Bellew explains why he’s ‘impressed’ by Jake Paul fighting Hasim Rahman Jr

British boxing legend Tony Bellew has explained why he’s impressed by Jake Paul taking on Hasim Rahman Jr in his next fight.

While the world of boxing may not like it, Jake Paul is one of the biggest names in the sport today. Through his own self-marketing, hand-picked opponents and tremendous knockouts, ‘The Problem Child’ has been able to prove a lot of his doubters wrong.

Of course, there are still many of them out there, plenty of whom think he’s destined to get knocked out before his time inside the squared circle comes to an end.

His next outing will see him square off against Hasim Rahman Jr in a contest that has genuinely taken quite a few folks by surprise, largely because Rahman Jr is a 12-1 pro boxer with a former two-time world heavyweight champion for a father.

Tony Bellew, who has sat back and watched the Paul saga unfold, had the following to say on the match-up in a recent DAZN column.

“Whatever his reasons for insisting on Rahman Jr., I’m massively impressed that Paul has taken this step because this is a significant step up from what he’s used to as he’s in there with an actual professional boxer. This is a much harder fight than his original contest with Fury, and I’m trying to figure out why Paul has gone down this route.”

“If Paul can defeat Rahman Jr., then it’s probably time to accept that he’s serious about boxing. Another fight in the shape of Rahman Jr., or even getting the Fury fight on would be the sensible option for his next fight, but I’d like to see him get busier. He needs to fight more if he wants to improve quicker and next month will tell us how much he needs to improve. I can’t wait to find out.”

Jake Paul vs Hasim Rahman Jr will headline a fun card that also features Amanda Serrano