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Beating Rahman Proves Nothing For Klitschko
One can choose to believe the hype of the upcoming heavyweight showdown between WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko and Hasim Rahman, or they can see through the fog created by the promotional spin-doctors.
Rahman is being built up as the biggest threat that Klitschko has ever faced since winning the WBC title, but that is not saying much when accounting his less than stellar opponents. Most fight fans find it very frustrating to watch the string of less than appealing bouts which Klitschko has taken to follow-up his gutsy performance against Lennox Lewis.
It is an embarrassment to the sport when powerhouse media outlets like HBO and Ring Magazine try to shove Klitschko down our throats as the 'real' heavyweight champion of the division.
How is it that the longest reigning heavyweight champion, Chris Byrd, who holds a TKO victory over Klitschko, is not considered the true champion of the division? Is beating a grossly overweight Kirk Johnson, a fat Danny Williams and a part-time golfer in Corrie Sanders more impressive than beating Jameel McCline, DaVarryl Williamson and a hard fought draw with Andrew Golota?
His brother Wladimir's recent decision win over Samuel Peter is a bigger accomplishment than anything Vitali has done in his entire career. When comparing the two resumes, Wladimir holds the far more impressive lineup of opponents. Wladimir may have been stopped in two separate bouts, but he never quit on his stool like Vitali did against Chris Byrd. Wladimir gets knocked down, but he gets up every single time. Trying the same thing about Lennox Lewis.
After the dissecting the career record of Hasim Rahman, it has becoming apparently clear that his knockout win over an out of shape Lennox Lewis is the only 'big' fight that Rahman managed to win. An in shape Lewis blew Rahman away in four rounds. In his career, he was beaten by David Tua, Oleg Maskaev, John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield. Let's not forget that Rahman is the only fighter Holyfield has managed to beat since March of 2001.
I almost fell for Rahman's rededication speech, you know that one that he preaches following every loss in his career. I almost fell for it this time and was woken up when I saw his terrible performance against Monte Barrett. There are some that felt Barrett won this bout and it was visually clear that he had Rahman in trouble in the final round. The minute Rahman stepped up to face a live dog, he was reduced to the same Rahman that we saw lose to John Ruiz. His timing was off, his accuracy was poor and he was unwilling to let his hands go.
Once again, Vitali's bout will be tainted even if he wins in impressive fashion. Rahman owes millions to the IRS, Don King is suing him for a piece of his purse and he recently filed for bankruptcy. It's safe to say that Rahman will not have a clear head going into this bout. He will be desperate and desperation can affect a fighter's judgment and his performance. Debt is heavy burden for any person to carry, Rahman is no different. After losing, Rahman can now easily say that with all of his personal problems, he was unable to keep himself focused.
If Vitali beats Rahman, so what. What does he really prove or accomplish? I know the answer. He can beat a fighter that five other men beat, two of whom are retired. Other than an overweight Lewis, who else has Rahman ever beaten in his career for him to be regarded as such a big threat. If you take the upset win over Lewis away, we would not even be discussing this fight because it would have never even been put together.
Klitschko is not going to accomplish anything unless he fights the other champions in the division. He must fight John Ruiz, (who easily beat Rahman), Chris Byrd (who beat him) and Lamon Brewster (who stopped his brother), in order to get real respect.
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