Heavyweight contender James Toney (right) delivers a blow to WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman during the sixth round of their 12-round title fight in Atlantic City, Saturday. The judges returned a majority decision of a draw. - REUTERS
ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY (AP)
HASIM RAHMAN REMAINED the WBC heavyweight champion Saturday night without beating James Toney.
Rahman, handed the crown when Vitali Klitschko retired last year, fought Toney to a draw, a verdict booed by many fans in the crowd. So the 33-year-old Rah-man has never actually won the belt in the ring.
"I can beat James Toney and I beat him tonight," Rahman insisted. "I was competitive inside. I thought it would be harder inside and it wasn't, so I was comfortable fighting him on the inside, even though the game plan (was) to use the jab."
It was one of the closest fights imaginable, with both boxers missing more than they connected, and with few flurries. Toney did his best work with right leads, including two massive ones late in the bout. But he also missed a handful of those punches, looking foolish as he swiped the air.
"I thought I won the fight, but that's the way boxing goes," Toney said. "At times I thought he was afraid of me."
Rahman carried the action in the final round after Toney landed two early punches. By the end of the 12th, Rahman was holding his hands in the air, thinking he'd won.
The judges saw otherwise sort of.
Nobuaki Uratani and Tom Kaczmarek each had it 114-114, while John Stewart saw a Rahman rout, 117-111. The Associated Press scored it 114-113 for Rahman.
Going into the final round, Kaczmarek and Uratani had Toney in front by a point. Rahman's strong finish ensured he would not give away the championship.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
"Even though it was a draw, it doesn't matter," Rahman said. "I'm still the champ and I'm the one who can go on from here. I can do what I want. I have unfinished business with (Oleg) Maskaev and now I have unfinished business with Toney."
Maskaev knocked out Rahman in 1999, but it is Toney who figures to be in Rahman's more immediate future.
That won't be for a while considering the deep cut he sustained in the eighth round. It got worse at the end.
For most of the bout, Rahman pressed the action. But Toney wasn't uncomfortable against the ropes, either. And he did cut Rahman over the left eye in the eighth.
"I was 100 per cent," Toney said. "I thought I won it by two or three points. James Toney is still the best fighter in the world."
Rahman took the WBC and IBF titles from Lennox Lewis with a stunning fifth-round knockout five years ago. But Lewis got serious about training and knocked out Rahman in the rematch.
Since that defeat, Rahman toiled on the fringes of the division, but his perseverance paid off last year when Klitschko retired. The WBC gave its belt to Rahman, and Saturday was his first defence.
"I felt his power, he felt my power," Rahman said. "There is no secret about fighting James Toney, it's a matter of how much he eats. If he comes in around 220, it's a much more difficult fight."
Toney owned a title as recently as last April when he outpointed John Ruiz for the WBA crown. But he held it for less than two weeks after testing positive for steroids.
The former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champ worked his way back from that ignominy, albeit by winning just once, over Dominic Gunn in October.
Rahman, from Baltimore, threw 933 punches and landed 279, while Toney threw 623 and landed 263.
Rahman is 44-5-2. Toney is 69-4-3.
The other heavyweight crowns are held by Chris Byrd (IBF), Nikolay Valuev (WBA) and Lamon Brewster (WBO). It's been a jumbled division since Lewis retired two years ago, and the Rahman-Toney fight didn't do anything to clarify it.
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