The battle between Jake Paul and his co-main event opponent on August 10 at Madison Square Garden initially appeared to be in doubt.

“Who knows if this fight is even gonna happen at this point because we’re not gonna pay him more money,” Paul said. “He’s not worth it. He has a name, but he doesn’t have a massive name.”

Paul said that since Rahman is already expected to receive the largest payout of his career, he is unsure of the motivation for his sudden desire to increase his income.

“So, he signed a contract last week for 10 times more than he’s ever been paid for any one of his fights. And now, boom, fast-forward one week, he’s trying to renegotiate, he’s trying to suck more money out of the fight,” Paul added. “He’s trying to do anything he can to claw and make the money because I think he realizes the consequences of what might happen. I think he’s scared to fight me.”

Before Tommy Fury was prohibited from entering the country, Paul (5 to 0, 4 KO) was scheduled to fight the Englishman. Last Monday, he reached an agreement with Rahman to replace Fury. In the co-main event, Amanda Serrano, the undisputed featherweight champion, will defend her title against Brenda Carabajal.

After defeating former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley via knockout on December 18, Paul has not competed since. After losing by TKO to James McKenzie Morrison in April, Rahman (12 to 1, 6 KO) is coming off of that defeat. There have been several previous fights between Paul and Rahman.

Rahman would have made a serious error in judgment if the match had been canceled since he would have missed out on the most profitable fight of his career.