By Frank Lotierzo

 

The fight with Monte Barrett was not pretty to watch, but Rahman got the job done by grabbing an important unanimous decision to set up a title fight with Vitali Klitschko within 120 days. The judges were in agreement and scored the fight 118-110, 118-110 and 116-112, all for Rahman.

 

Barrett had his running shoes on for most of the fight as Rahman chased him around the ring. It was very difficult for Rahman to look spectacular when you consider the amount of running, holding and lack of activity on the part of Barrett. Rahman had to resort to stalking and jabbing for most of the fight in order to catch up to Barrett and administer some punishment. The pistol jab of Rahman made an absolute mess of Barrett's left eye. Barrett's eye was badly swollen and cut for more then half of the fight. Rahman was momentarily wobbled by Barrett in the final round, but did not allow Barrett to follow up.

 

Now with Monte Barrett (31-4) behind him, Hasim Rahman (41-5) has his sights set on regaining the heavyweight title he briefly held. The Rahman-Barrett bout, despite being for the WBC "Interim" heavyweight title, was nothing more than an elimination bout. The fighter who holds the title, WBC champ Vitali Klitschko, was been mandated to fight the winner of Rahman-Barrett before the end of the year. However, nothing has been finalized yet.

 

Klitschko, who stopped Corrie Sanders in April 2004 to capture the vacated title, hasn't fought since stopping British heavyweight Danny Williams last December. Williams earned his title fight with Klitschko by knocking out Mike Tyson in his last fight. Klitschko outclassed Williams and had him down four times during the fight before it was halted at 1:26 of the eighth round. Since then, Rahman-Klitschko was delayed from April 30 to June 18 to July 23. Klitschko postponed all three fights due to back and thigh injuries that Rahman has questioned.

 

Klitschko requested the WBC for an optional title defense but was later rejected. This led promoter Don King to petition the WBC to sanction the Rahman-Barrett fight to be for the WBC "interim title," to the surprise of no one, King's request was granted. This clears the path for the WBC to strip Vitali Klitschko of the title if he doesn't fight Rahman before the end of the year. If Hasim Rahman ends up with the WBC title, Don King would have complete control of the heavyweight division once again, due to having the promotional rights to WBA champ John Ruiz, IBF champ Chris Byrd, WBO champ Lamon Brewster and Rahman who would own the WBC title.

 

Fighting Vitali Klitschko for the title would bring Hasim Rahman full circle. Regaining the title has been Rahman's goal since he lost it almost four years ago. On April 22, 2001, Rahman shocked the boxing world when he knocked out heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis with one punch in the fifth round. The fight was voted Ring Magazine's Upset of the year. Seven months later Lewis regained the title when he knocked out Rahman in the fourth round of their rematch.

 

After losing the title to Lewis, Rahman returned to the ring seven months later in great shape for his fight against former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield. As the result of an accidental head clash during the fight, Rahman had a huge knot on the left side of his head. The knot continued to swell which compelled ringside Dr. Howard Taylor to stop the fight at 1:40 of the eighth round. The fight went to the scorecards because of Rahman's injury. Holyfield was ahead after seven completed rounds 69-64 on two cards with the third one unexplainably in favor of Rahman 67-66.

 

In his next fight Rahman fought tough and hard punching David Tua, weighing a career high 259 pounds. Despite carrying more than 20 pounds extra weight, most ringside observers thought Rahman did enough to earn the decision when the fight was over. However, all three judges saw the fight differently. Judge Robert Grasso scored the fight in favor of Tua 116-112 while judge Bill Clancy saw it 116-112 Rahman. The fight ended in a draw as a result of judge George Hill scoring it 114-114.

 

Rahman, who was winless in two fights (0-1-1) after losing the title back to Lennox Lewis, got a another title shot in December of 2003 in Atlantic City. His opponent was former WBA title holder John Ruiz. For his fight with Ruiz, Rahman weighed 246 and fought lethargic and seemingly without purpose. In a bout that neither fighter had the other hurt or in trouble, Ruiz managed to score with some solid jabs and clean right hands. Ruiz won a 12-round unanimous decision to win interim WBA title. When Roy Jones decided to go bacck down to light heavyweight to fight Antonio Tarver, Ruiz was declared the WBA heavyweight champ officially. With his loss to Ruiz, Rahman was 0-3-1 in his four fights after beating Lewis to win the title.

 

Since his lackluster showing against John Ruiz, Rahman has now won six straight fights. With his win over Monte Barrett, he is 2-0 under new trainer Thell Torrance, who is Rahman's ninth trainer since making his pro-debut 11 years ago. Torrence, 69, spent 44 years as the chief second to legendary trainer Eddie Futch, assisting him while working with heavyweight champs Riddick Bowe, Tony Tubbs, Ken Norton and Joe Frazier. Along with Rahman, Torrence also trains unbeaten British heavyweight Audley Harrison.

 

Under Torrence, Rahman has worked very hard and fights more consistent not losing focus like he used to. He no longer drops his right hand as much after throwing his jab and goes to the body more with his left hook. Rahman is a boxer-puncher and as he showed in his first fight with Lennox Lewis, he is capable of knocking out most heavyweight's when he is in top shape. To take the title from Vitali Klitschko, Rahman will need to be at his best. 

 

The one thing many fight observers forget about Klitschko is that he has lost to the two best heavyweights he's fought, (Chris Byrd and Lennox Lewis). Some point to the fact that he was leading in the fight before it ended as if that justifies his defeat. Durability is just as important to a fighter as stamina. The bottom line is Klitschko couldn't finish against Byrd and Lewis and that's why he lost.

 

If Rahman fights WBC heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko later this year, he'll be the betting underdog. However, his experience and big right hand give him a puncher's chance.