Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman Deal is Reached

[DonFlamenco]

is the division so bad that the rock gets a shot at the title?

[Stickman]

what are the odds on this fight?

if anyone thinks rahman is going to win they dont know anything about boxing.

even a rahman nuthugger should pick him to lose this one (not that rahman actually has any that im aware of... i havent even seen a single rahman avatar on the entire boards.)

If Rahman isn't a 10/1 underdog, I'll be one surprised muther****er.

[EDIT]
By the way, I like Rahman, so I suppose you could say I'm a fan. He's not a particular favorite of mine, but if he shows up with his brains in decent order, he will usually put on a decent show.

[The Hammer]

is the division so bad that the rock gets a shot at the title?

There are better fighters, but they're not available or not ranked by the IBF.

Valuev, Arreola, Gomez, Chagaev, Dimitrenko, etc. are injured (Chagaev), don't want the fight (Valuev), have different plans (JC Gomez), or have other fights scheduled (Dimitrenko, Arreola).

[-Antonio-]

I like Wlad and all, but this is the worst the division has ever been.

[jpeck]

I have never rooted against Wlad in my life, but I think this fight has pushed me over the edge. You can't convince me that there is not a better fight than this to be made. I hope the Rock has one more lucky punch left in him.

[edgarg]

Trust me.. Travis Walker is Americas best kept secret.. he's been sparring with the TOP heavyweights for the last 4 years (including retiring Vitali sparring in LA). He's still a secret because none of them want to fight him.. Tua, Rahman, Peters all ducked Walker. Chris Henry and Travis Walker both trained at Main Boxing gym in Houston. Everybody was ducking Chris Henry also. If you look at the Diaconu fight he was robbed in that fight (his only loss).. same thing with Walker (one loss on a B.S. stoppage) but he avenged it in brutal fashion. Travis stays in shape.. gots stamina.. power.. speed and size plus his trainer is old school. Trust me after he mops the floor with Arreola he will be a TOP contender.

CARLISLE-...O.K..I'll trust you....about half as far as I could throw you. I've always had respect for you...because Carlisle was the name of a club I once played for in the distant past, but.....NOT MUCH respect...

I just checked Walker's record, and fully agree with your assertion that he's a well kept secret. The same way that Winston Churchill, when told that Clement Attlee, the Labour Party Leader was "a very modest man'.. said...."well he has a lot to be modest about".... and THAT's the way with Walker.

LOOK at his record. 28 (22KO's)-1 (KO).........GREAT.....

He had 6 "opponents" with one win or less., 4 had no fights at all.

18 "opponents" had a less than 50% record, most of them a LOT LESS.

He was KO'd (1st rd) by an 11-1 prelim fighter in his 26th fight. In his 25th fight, he beat a 2-12 "opponent".

In his first 10 fights his "opponents'" records were 6-24.....THEN he got into the better class of opponent....namely one Marcus Rhode, who should be prosecuted for calling himself a fighter.......Of his 26 losses at that time, I think about 25 were by KO. To date of his 35 losses, 30 are by KO. So folks, you can see that Marcus Rhode is really good opposition for the "BEST KEPT SECRET IN BOXING"....Make no mistake about it......

In his LAST fight he beat a guy called Wallace MacDonald, I forget how many fights he won because he lost so many.

Readers will appreciate, I hope, that I call his "set-ups" .."opponents" out of respect for the (half) dead.

This is the guy whom CARLISLE has just "accused" of retiring Vitaly Klitschko...you know Klitscko, the ancient cripple who just a week or two ago destroyed the Great Samuel Peter, the Future of Boxing...after having been retired for 4 years., whilst Peter had had 11 fights. AND...WAS THE WBC CHAMPION.....

No one can accuse me of not having respect, just no respect for CARLISLE'S opinions.

And{I hope} SO SAY ALL OF USssss....

[edgarg]

I have never rooted against Wlad in my life, but I think this fight has pushed me over the edge. You can't convince me that there is not a better fight than this to be made. I hope the Rock has one more lucky punch left in him.

Naah...don't give up. It was the best fight in either WBO or IBF. If they'd picked anyone else, there would have been flying lawyers writs, I mean lawyers writs flying around.

It's only a keep busy fight geared to keep the whole fight card from being cancelled. And Rahman, like it or not, is the IBF #5. I think that Klitschko is being pretty decent about turning out to fight to avoid the lesser paid fighters losing their paydays.

I just hope he doesn't take it less than seriously.

[Khmelnytsky]

like most have pointed out already its pretty much the best they could do in a tight squeeze as an opponent, the 1thing i do like about it

After all Rahman's scared talk about Vitali avoiding him we get to see Volodymyr shut him up

[Onslaught24]

..............and this is why the heavyweight division sucks.

[jpeck]

..............and this is why the heavyweight division sucks.

Love the avatar! You're gonna make me bust out the NES!