By James Blears
Hasim "The Rock" Rahman is determined to win the WBC Heavyweight Title again, but before he gets the opportunity to snatch the belt from champion Vitali Klitschko, he has to beat top contender Monte Barrett.
Hasim and Monte will slug it out in Chicago on August 13th in a WBC eliminator, the winner of the bout gets to take on the giant Ukrainian.
BoxingScene writer James Blears caught up with former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman in Washington, not far from his hometown of Baltimore, and Hasim had this to say:
Rahman: The fight against Monte Barrett is for the WBC Interim Title, and Vitali Klitschko has to face the winner. I’m looking forward to winning in spectacular fashion.
BoxingScene.com: You’re looking in good shape. You’re obviously training hard.
Rahman: Oh definitely. I feel good and strong. I’m really looking forward to winning this fight and moving on to face Vitali.
BoxingScene.com: Has Vitali Klitschko been avoiding you? He has been injured.
Rahman: We were supposed to fight on April 30th, in June and then on July 23rd. I don’t know. All I can do is to go out there and show him why he doesn’t want to be with me in the ring.
BoxingScene.com: You were in good form against Kali Meehan (won by 4th round TKO 11/13/2004).
Rahman: Well you know, I feel I’ve got to be better than that moving forward. I feel I’ve set the bar for myself, and I’ve got to keep raising it.
BoxingScene.com: What are you hoping to do in the fight against Monte Barrett.
Rahman: I’m expecting BOOM EXPLOSION! I’m going to come out with a busy pace and throwing bombs to give the people some excitement. I definitely going to throw a lot of bombs.
BoxingScene.com: When you and Lennox Lewis fought each other, there was drama and excitement. The heavyweight division is boring at the moment.
Rahman: I think this is because the top fighters really don’t want to fight the top fighters. But Rahman never ducks anyone. He’s ready to fight any top guy, and once I grab this WBC Interim Title, if it’s not Klitschko and he wants to go somewhere else and I become champion, then I’d love to face Lamon Brewster. I think he just put on a sensation win over Andrew Golota. And I think that Brewster and myself would be one heck of a fight.
BoxingScene.com: What’s your assessment of Vitali Klitschko? He’s very mechanical in the way he boxes isn’t he?
Rahman: Yeah he is, but he’s also effective with it. Opponents don’t really put the pressure they need to apply on him. They don’t really make him work. They allow him to sit there and dictate. If you stay there and let him stay in his comfort zone, then he’ll beat the brakes off you. But if you make him feel a little uncomfortable that’s when you will have success.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think it’s a good thing that Lennox Lewis has now retired. Klitschko is trying to get him back, but Lennox looked poor in their fight. He did cut up Vitali bad, but his timing was off, he looked overweight, he looked tired and he looked old.
Rahman: For just two weeks notice for a guy like Klitschko, I really don’t think Lennox did all that bad. You’ve got to realize that Lennox was expecting to fight Kirk Johnson. He would have walked rather easily through Kirk Johnson, with the condition he was in. But then two weeks before the fight they switched it to Vitali. And with that kind of change and just a fortnight, Lennox really didn’t have time to prepare. But he still came trough I thought.
BoxingScene.com: How much would it mean to you to be Heavyweight Champion of the World again? All the sweeter second time around?
Rahman: I absolutely agree with that. The second time is going to be a sweeter and a longer run for me. And I can’t wait. I feel that I’m destined to be two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World, and I’m not going to let anyone stand in my way. Anybody who gets in my way has got to fall!
