He wouldn't be able to fit his wheel if that was the case.

Forks come with more measurements than rake and steerer tube length, the key one here is the length of the blades. The old fork gave room for bigger tires and used long reach brakes, this one is shorter by probably 10-15 mm. By using that fork you've changed the geometry of the bike just slightly. Now the head tube and seat tube angles are steeper. It's probably not a huge deal, but you got the wrong fork. If you can return that one without much hassle try and find one that has room for the same tire clearance as your old fork and it will work better.