Last night before the Fox Sports Net televised the rematch between Hasim Rahman and James Toney, I wandered over to Fightjudge to make a bold prediction. While almost everyone had James Toney picked to soundly defeat the one-time conqueror of Lennox Lewis, I had to side with the "rock". While Toney might have been the more skilled boxer of the two combatants last night, Rahman was younger, stronger, bigger, and had stayed more active in recent months against lower caliber fighters. I felt that father time had finally caught up with Toney, and that it was time for him to hang up the gloves on a career that spanned from the middleweight division to the mess that is the current heavyweight division.
As I typed in my prediction of a split decision for Rahman, two thoughts ran through my mind. Number one, this was going to be a boring fight that would be decided by a few big punches scattered across twelve bland, drawn out rounds. And number two, that neither the boxing fans nor the fighters themselves would be satisfied with either the fight itself or the outcome. Well I'm happy to report that at least fifty percent or my pre-fight prediction comments came true. Much to everyone's surprise, including myself, the fight turned out to be somewhat decent despite it's short timeframe. Rahman took the first round with the jab while Toney came back in round two to slightly edge out Rahman with some late round counter punches. Round three saw Toney start to establish his game plan against the six foot two former champion with over hand rights that had the crowd buzzing. When Rahman butted heads with Toney and appeared to be cut, most (including myself) figured it would have an impact on the fight, but that there was no way that Rahman would dare throw in the towel during a fight of this magnitude. However, Rahman's complaints at the end of round three regarding not being able to see brought an end to the fight itself, but a beginning to the controversy that followed.
And so the $64,000 question remains, did Rahman quit or was this strictly the doctors call? As it officially stands at this point in time, Toney has been declared the winner of the fight by a third round TKO. And although I will admit that it looked like Toney was coming on strong and starting to take control, I can't help but feel sorry for Rahman. This fight should have been declared a no contest, and Rahman and Toney should be fighting again to determine the real winner. While the public's opinion of Hasim Rahman might not exactly resemble that of Joe Louis, I believe the man should have a chance to win back his pride and prove that even if he can stand toe to toe with boxing's version of the human bowling ball.
And so like many meaningful heavyweight fights in recent years, the final bell rang last night leaving more questions than answers, and proving once again why the heavyweight division is in such peril. Look, we all know the division has a few problems right now, but we must always remember that history always repeats itself, and that someday, somewhere, someone will come along that will inspire us again much in the same way that greats like Louis, Dempsey, Marciano, and Ali have before. James Toney and Hasim Rahman might not have that kind of credibility attached to their names, but as long as these two men are willing to step into the ring and give their all, they will have my attention until inspiration decides to once again knock on the heavyweight division's door.
Scott Tonelli is the senior editor of Fightjudge, and is a long time fight fan and amateur boxer.
