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To be Rahman, or not to be Rahman, that is no longer the question. In a less than spectacular heavyweight showdown the former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman improved his record to 41-5 (33) when he successfully defeated Monte Barrett 31-4 (17) in a stinker of a match. Although the twelve round bout had its moments, for the most part it was slow and uneventful for the PPV buyers and the booing Chicago crowd at hand.
Although Rahman was the aggressor for most of the night it didn’t take much to defeat Barrett who was fighting as if he only had a defensive strategy in his playbook. Both were stunned, wobbled or rocked on more than one occasion during the night but neither could capitalize on their opponent’s lack of senses and instead of ending in a knockout as Rahman had hoped it would have, it went the full twelve rounds giving the new WBC interim heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman a unanimous decision victory by the score of 116-112, 118-110 and 118-110.
So now after all these months of ranting and raving and going on about how Vitali Klitschko was scared of him the fight world shall get the chance to see what Rahman has against ‘The’ champion. When this bout will take place is up in there air since Rahman sustained cuts over his right eye in this match-up. Can Rahman pull off a W over Klitschko? Not if he fights as he did tonight, but I must say this, congratulations Hasim, you earned this one.
The return of the cigarette smoking beer-drinking banger Ricardo Mayorga 27-5-1 (22) was something to write home about as the slugger out-pointed the boxer in a twelve round match-up. Mayorga came out with both guns blazing throwing wild shots at his opponent Michele Piccirillo 44-2 (28) and dropped the Italian twice in round two and once in the fourth but the tough as nails Piccirillo fought on and made it worth the watch. Mayorga was his usual self, wild and portraying nothing but a slugger style in the ring, hitting on top of the head and going for the KO, but his power couldn’t stop Piccirillo and after twelve rounds Mayorga was crowned the WBC super welterweight king when the judges gave the go ahead for the Nicaraguan in the form of a unanimous decision 117-108, 117-110 and 120-105. The free swinging brawler wants Fernando Vargas next, which could be an interesting match-up.
Hey hey hey! Let’s give it up for the forty-year-old former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall 44-8 (31) who gained a huge victory over the Polish puncher Prezmyslaw Saleta 42-7 (21) when he stopped the big man in his tracks with a massive uppercut in the fourth round, ending Saleta’s night with a straight right hand. McCall stepped in as Andrew Golota's replacement after Golota received an injury during a sparring session, but who would have thought McCall would have came out victorious?
McCall who is best known for his two run ins with Lennox Lewis and has won four straight fights since last September and even at the ripe age of forty he is still a threat to the division and has earned it the hard way.
Can you say beat down? Miguel Gonzales 49-5-1 (39) can and that was just what he received when the WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo 26-1 (12) tore into and picked apart the Mexican fighter. The southpaw outboxed and offered up punishment for eight rounds until Gonzalez’s corner threw in the towel and with this turn of events Gonzalez has dropped two back-to-back losses.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
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By "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr. (August 14, 2005)
