BoxRec

How much more dough would you say Hasim will get taking the Wlad fight rather than the proposed Haye one?

im not sure but the rock deserves another pay day, i dont think he has many left. he has been a warrior in his time.

personally i think team haye have a much more dangerous opponent in monte barratt. rahman would have been KO'd early by haye.

Rahman's days at the top level are over i'm afraid and Wlad would gain little credibility from fighting him IMO.

I think Wlad neatens up the scene by beating Rahman - the last fella to beat Lewis. I think Rahman will have no where to go, no legitimacy, no future real or imaginary once Wlad beats him, and yet Rahman is a curious fighter, he retains the power to drop WK, as do most above 200 pounds but one assumes Rahman retreats into his shell and strikes the pose of the intimidated fighter, as he did in the Lewis rematch.

Rahman isn't the strongest mentally despite mixing with some dangerous men for a decade. He's fallable but he does have a right hand crack to keep WK honest.

I think as a voluntary, late replacement this has some benefits for WK, he tidies up the division a little more - removes another of the old guard and any last vestiges of support they may still have.

Equally, the Toney v Thompson fight - mooted yetserday should also help clean up the picture too.

Toney-Thompson is an interesting fight. I think the HW division could be reinvigorated by more match-ups like this. There are probably 30 fighters at least that could make watchable and hard to predict fights by meeting each other. Arreola, McCall, Lyakovich, Tua, Brewster, Maskaev et al.

I don't understand why it rarely happens as defeat is never the end of the line at HW.

I dont know why more of these guys aren't fighting 3-4-5 times a year.

Rahman was in much better nick when he did, even against over-matched circuit fighters.

Rahman doesn't care anymore and is only in it for the money. Toney shook him up several times, chins gone, Wlad will decap him without much of a sweat.

DavidPayne wrote:I think as a voluntary, late replacement this has some benefits for WK, he tidies up the division a little more - removes another of the old guard and any last vestiges of support they may still have.

Yeah, but didn't he "remove" Botha and Mercer more than half a decade ago?

The only way to truly remove the dead weight from the heavyweight division is to stop giving them paydays... but when most of the guys aged 35-45 have more bankable names than those aged 25-30, it isn't going to happen.

DavidPayne wrote:I dont know why more of these guys aren't fighting 3-4-5 times a year.

Rahman was in much better nick when he did, even against over-matched circuit fighters.

Good theory, but flawed. I watched his fight With Lawrence a month after the fight with Fox and it was bloody awful. I had Zuri drawing at the time of the stoppage, and that was after Zuri only had 2 weeks notice!

Maybe a suffix of "and must be fit".

Rahman hasn't done too bad for himself considering it's 7 years since he beat Lewis and hasn't beaten a single top 10 opponent since.

When you actually take the time to look at who he's fought and who he's beaten since the Lewis fight, you could probably say he's even less deserving of a title shot than Ruiz, Holyfield, or any other ex champion still hanging around well after their sell by date.

oliverfennell wrote: but when most of the guys aged 35-45 have more bankable names than those aged 25-30, it isn't going to happen.

What can you do when Americas prospects are the flabby and already beaten Eddie Chambers, or Chris Arreolla whos already 25-0 but only fights other no name prospects who are also a similar 25-0 built up on dead bodies.

Not very exciting or interesting are they? Especially when Alex Povetkin passed their level of opposition less than 10 fights into his own pro career.

Mario wrote:Rahman hasn't done too bad for himself considering it's 7 years since he beat Lewis and hasn't beaten a single top 10 opponent since.

When you actually take the time to look at who he's fought and who he's beaten since the Lewis fight, you could probably say he's even less deserving of a title shot than Ruiz, Holyfield, or any other ex champion still hanging around well after their sell by date.

Nah, Hasim has been around and has some pretty big wins such as Monte Barret and Meehan. Not to mention the Draw with Toney.

He is a decent and unpredictable fighter and always has a punchers chance.

observer1 wrote:

Mario wrote:Rahman hasn't done too bad for himself considering it's 7 years since he beat Lewis and hasn't beaten a single top 10 opponent since.

When you actually take the time to look at who he's fought and who he's beaten since the Lewis fight, you could probably say he's even less deserving of a title shot than Ruiz, Holyfield, or any other ex champion still hanging around well after their sell by date.

Nah, Hasim has been around and has some pretty big wins such as Monte Barret and Meehan. Not to mention the Draw with Toney.

He is a decent and unpredictable fighter and always has a punchers chance.

That says it all, arguably his best result in 7 years is a draw with a fat middleweight!

Barrett was starting a run of 3 losses and has never looked any good when up against a top opponent. And Meehan was coming off a loss, is hugely overrated, and was flattened in 1 by Danny Williams so any puncher will stand a chance with him.

While the division isn't exactly overloaded with talent at the minute, there are at least 10 other fighters who deserve a chance over Rahman.