Jake Paul sets long-term goal of being boxing's light heavyweight champion

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Jake Paul hopes his fight against Hasim Rahman Jr. in New York is the start of a title reign.

Paul told First Take on Tuesday that his goal is to be the light heavyweight champion of the world in three to four years.

Russian Artur Beterbiev and Russian Dmitry Bivol are the top ranked 175-pound titleholders. Paul is banking on a lot of improvement over the next few years in order to defeat a fighter like that.

Paul told First Take that he was going to get harder and harder fights. The celebrity and basketball stuff used to be. My life is boxing. From the time I wake up, it's a morning practice for boxing.

It's yoga, it's meditation, it's film work." My coaches and I talk about game plan and strategies. I'm eating a lot of food. I'm doing everything I can to become the best boxer I can be, and I know a lot of people want to fight me. A lot of people want me to lose.

Rahman is one of the ones. Hasim Rahman's son accepted the fight a week ago. Tommy Fury, Tyson's half-brother, was denied entry into the US from Britain.

Rahman lost to James Morrison in the fifth round. Rahman weighed in at more than 200 pounds for that fight. He will have to lose weight to make the limit for the fight with Paul, who is coming off a spectacular knockout of Tyron Woodley.

"If anything in the sparring session, he got the better of me, but that was two years ago and I believe in the past two years I've worked harder than him," Paul said. I am able to beat him.