3/19/06 - article by Mike Indri
Rahman keeps his belt with a hard fought draw!
Toney and Rahman prove they are both "SUPERFIGHTERS".
By Mike Indri (THE WRITING POLICEMAN)
Retired Boxers Foundation
March 18, 2006
After twelve grueling rounds against title challenger James Toney, Hasim Rahman
left the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall boxing ring still the World Boxing Council's
heavyweight champion.
As the "appointed" champ, upon Vitali Klitschko's sudden retirement last year,
Rahman actually did not win his new title in the ring, his WBC world championship
belt was not earned in battle.
Hasim "The Rock" Rahman EARNED the right to be called champion after battling James
Toney to a hard fought draw in defense of his crown tonight.
Coming into the fight at a solid and fit 238 lbs. Rahman, now 41-5-2 (33 KO's), fought
hard throughout the entire twelve rounds. It was actually "The Rock's" stated newly
found desire, dedication and conditioning which carried the fight for the champ.
Against the slickest, craftiest and by far the most gifted boxer he has ever faced in
James Toney, Rahman never stopped coming forward and never stopped throwing punches.
Out-punching the more selective and accurate Toney by a whopping 300 thrown punches
(933-633), it was the out-working and out-hustling of James Toney which was seen most
by the crowd, the HBO televised viewing audience and most importantly the Judges.
Actually Rahman could have fought a "smarter" by keeping his distance and using his advantage
of a superior, and nasty, jab; instead of his fighting close, which allowed the master
counter-puncher Toney to blast away with many power punches, cutting Hasim's lip and
bruising his left eye in the process. Toney also displayed his badge of courage (swelling
around the left eye) at the post-fight press conference.
While Judge John Stewart apparently appreciated Hasim's work ethic, with his resounding
117-111 score for Rahman, both Nobuaki Uratani and the well respected Tom Kaczmarek had
it even at 114-114; declaring this more exciting than expected championship fight a draw
and giving Rahman the deserved and well earned opportunity to defend his title against
the WBC mandatory # 1 challenger Oleg Maskaev. Even though the right to challenge for
Rahman's title has been established by Maskaev, the boxing public really wants to see
Rahman-Toney II.
James Toney (69-4-3 with 43 KO's and 1 NC), a bona-fide hall of fame fighter, is nothing
short of remarkable. A world champion from middleweight all the way to, or as close as
a fighter can get to winning.the heavyweight title; with his dominant thought-to-be win
over then WBA champ John Ruiz subsequently overturned to a no decision (due to Toney's
well documented post-fight positive steroid test result), as well, this Rahman draw.
Toney did nothing but enhance himself with his gutsy and valiant performance tonight.
With tonight's sponsor of the fight being SUPERFIGHTER (www.super fighter.tv), launching the
initial notice of their July mega-event which will feature eight of the world's top heavyweight
fighters to battle in elimination matches to determine the true heavyweight super fighter,
both James Toney and Hasim Rahman proved the are both "SUPERFIGHTERS".
On "The Big Boys are Back" undercard:
Vincent Arroyo, fighting out of Buffalo, NY, stopped the very game and stubborn Adam Czacher,
now 2-3, at 1:55 of round four in a hard fought welterweight bout which opened the show.
Arroyo remained undefeated, improving to 4-0, with Czacher being his third KO victim.
Heavyweight "The Tiger" Thompson controlled Philadelphia's Maurice Wheeler, who fell to
10-5-1, before finally hurting Wheeler with a crunching body shot which rendered his foe
unable to continue late in round four. Thompson, a native of Baltimore, MD improved his
stellar record to 27-1 (17 KO's).
Reading, Pa. young heavyweight prospect Travis Kaufman (3-0, 3 KO's) impressed the crowd
with his big left hand which hurt Robert Bell early and often. Bell, from Akron, Ohio
fell to 2-2 (2 KO's) and was put to sleep for a count of ten at 2:27 of the first round.
In the night's lone female bout, Suszannah Warner surprised many with her four round majority
decision victory over previously undefeated Noriko Ann Kariya. The taller Warner improved
to 3-2 (1KO), while Kariya, who appeared to be the busier and better skilled fighter, fell to 3-1.
The four round light heavyweight fight between Philadelphia's Edward Hemphill and Atlantic
City's Chuck Mussachio proved to be highly entertaining. Battling throughout the bout neither
fighter appeared to have much of an edge. Hemphill, trained by former two-time heavyweight
world champion Tim Witherspoon, came up on the short end of the judge's scorecards (37-39,
36-40 & 38-38); giving a close win to the popular local fighter, Mussachio who stayed perfect
at 6-0 (2 KO's).
The co-feature bout was supposed to be a showcase for the worldly popular and highly touted
undefeated Jewish super lightweight Dimitry Salita. The only showcasing was of the highly
atrocious way that the business of boxing, unfortunately, illegitimately affects the sport of boxing.
Over the course of eight rounds, unheralded and thought to be light puncing Ramon Montano
(only 1 win by way of knockout) battered the over-hyped and under-qualified Salita; dropping
him to the canvas twice in round one, hurting him in several of the rounds, as well as
leaving the likable Salita bloodied and bruised by the final bell.
Credit is to be given to Salita for his fortitude, heart and no quit approach, but where
is Ramon Montano's credit - in the form of a highly deserved win?
As the judge's scores were being read indicating a draw (yes, I said a draw!), the 9000+
in attendance boisterously let their feelings known, cheering loudly for Montano, now
10-3-2 and just as loudly booing for Salita, who miraculously remained undefeated at 24-0-1 (14 KO's).
The walk out bout of the night pitted Bayonne, New Jersey's Bobby Rooney against Derrick
Sierra from the Bronx, NY. The four round light heavyweight fight ended, appropriately
enough for tonight's fightcard, as a majority draw!
Rooney, now 5-2-1 (3 KO's), gets his first professional stalemate; while Sierra collects
the third "D" on his 1-4-3 record.
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