Reports suggest Jake Paul is finalising his deal to face Hasim Rahman Jr in place of Tommy Fury after the Brit was denied entry to the US last week. It was reported on Tuesday that Paul was favouring the son of former heavyweight world champion Hasim Rahman as the direct replacement for the Love Island star and now it seems both men are close to agreeing on a deal.

Paul and Fury are set to face each other on August 6 but the fight remains in crisis after Fury was not allowed to board his flight to New York ahead of the pair’s press conference last Monday. Tyson Fury’s brother told fans on social media that he is unaware of why he was not allowed to fly to the US despite Homeland Security telling him that ‘he knows’ the reason.

Since the announcement, Paul has set Fury a deadline of Wednesday morning to visit the embassy and sort out his travel issues. If Fury fails to meet Paul’s request it is understood that the YouTube star will pull the plug on the fight and replace Fury with Rahman Jr for their showdown at Madison Square Garden, New York.

The latest developments come from Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix who claims that a deal is being finalised between ‘The Problem Child’ and the son of a legend. He wrote: “Jake Paul is finalizing a deal to face Hasim Rahman Jr. on August 6th, sources familiar with the negotiations told @SInow. Rahman (12-1) is the son of ex-heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. Paul pivoting away from Tommy Fury, who was denied entry into the U.S. last week.”

He said: “I kind of expected the same thing that I boxed the first time and that’s not what I got. I got somebody that had a better right hand, I had somebody that was actually stepping in with the jab. The best thing about it is – I had somebody that could control his distance.

“The first time he couldn’t really do anything like that. He was really just fighting. I could just tell that he had heart. Now he’s using his distance better, he’s actually stepping into his jab, instead of just putting it there, and he’s throwing a good one-two.”

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