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, who is from Baltimore, is 12-1 as a pro boxer with six knockouts. The eight-round bout will be contested at 200 pounds and will be broadcast on Showtime PPV.
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.
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 pay-per-view and ticket-selling cachet as previous Paul matchups
Such as with former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, former MMA champion and Olympian Ben Askren and retired NBA veteran Nate Robinson.
"I don't see the benefit of doing the fight at this stage, given all the other opportunities that are there for Jake," said Bidarian, who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Paul.
"He can prove himself against a 6-0 boxer or a 5-0 boxer, someone who is just there to build their record to lose to someone like Jake. That's not what he wanted; he wanted to truly challenge himself.