Bad decision? Yes, but it doesn't change anything.

[Leo Pradun]

Rock's broke, and money talks. He'd make more money fighting Toney again than he would fighting Maskaev.

ye and loose the belt, i dont think hell do dat...

[Bozo_no no]

ye and loose the belt, i dont think hell do dat...

Is that supposed to be english?

[j]

bozo, not that i agree really with maskaev being the #1 wbc challenger, or rahman giving the belt without fighting for it for that matter, but i did see on ********* that rahman has to fight oleg next as he is allowed only one voluntary defense and then has to fight maskaev next.

so oleg vs hasim will most likely be the next wbc title fight. that is unless there is some influence on the general rules.

[mECHsLAVE]

Anyone who believes Maskaev has actually earned any kind of title shot is fooling themselves.

He was looked over in the 1st place because it's a joke that he ever had that ranking.

I wouldn't be the least bit suprized to see a rematch happen because there would be more money in it.

Look, we all know Maskaev is very limited and is a fringe top-20 contender. He's not going anywhere, and if he happens to beat Rock (and the Rock that fought tonight is actually a winnable fight for Maskaev) then he'll lose the belt in his first defense.

BUT he did what you are supposed to do when you don't have a big name anymore and want to fight for the title. You suck it up, putyour nose to the grindstone, and go on the road, working your way up the ladder beating ranked contenders. And then you get to an eliminator for the #1 ranking which guarantees you a shot at the title. He won a string of fights against nobodies, yes, but he did what he was supposed to do according to the WBC. So the WBC's hands are tied. If they don't want to give Maskaev a shot, then they should have looked over their rankings a little closer.

But what's right is right, Maskaev has earned a shot at their title according to their rules. (And let's face it, this wouldn't be happening if the sanctioning bodies weren't such ****ing crybabies about ranking other titlists and if the titles weren't all still spread out from Don King's hold over the division, which has thankfully weakened).

[Bozo_no no]

bozo, not that i agree really with maskaev being the #1 wbc challenger, or rahman giving the belt without fighting for it for that matter, but i did see on ********* that rahman has to fight oleg next as he is allowed only one voluntary defense and then has to fight maskaev next.

so oleg vs hasim will most likely be the next wbc title fight. that is unless there is some influence on the general rules.

Influence on the rules, or general ignorance is what lead Maskaev to being ranked where he is presently, which is a joke.

With that logic used to get him there, anything can happen to suit the agenda of the WBC, who with Maskaev ranked at #1, obviosuly don't have a decision making process that's rooted in any kind of reality.

A Toney Rahman rematch would make more money, and it wouldn't suprize me to see events lead to it for that reason alone.

[j]

bozo, i completely agree.

although according to the "supposed" rules, the rock has to fight maskaev next, i wouldn't be surprised either if we saw toney/rahman 2 before then somehow.

[Bozo_no no]

bozo, i completely agree.

although according to the "supposed" rules, the rock has to fight maskaev next, i wouldn't be surprised either if we saw toney/rahman 2 before then somehow.

According to "supposed" rules, Maskaev should have been fighting tonight.

"Supposed" rules don't mean a lot with these ABC sanctioning bodies.

[PBDS]

.....Rahman/Maskaev will not happen next and would bet real money that somehow Rahman/Toney will rematch.