12.03.06 – By Mark de Mori: With Ricky Hatton still undecided about his next opponent, there is a lot of speculation going on. Juan Lazcano, Vivian Harris, Naoufel Ben Rabah –and recently added to the list– the outspoken Lovemore Ndou, are all possible opponents.
Not much is known of the talented Naoufel Ben Rabah, so I decided to make the most of living down the road from his Perth gym, and see what a world class boxer looks like in the gym. In extreme contrast to the strong as an ox head first brawler Ricky Hatton, what I saw was an extremely fluid boxer who was quick on his feet and can punch from all angles. Naoufel Benrabah, the 28 year old IBF number one contender, has sat back quietly waiting for his world title shot after earning it in an IBF eliminator against Arturo Moura (who recently beat Emanuel Augustus). Ben Rabah boxed his ears off winning every round convincingly to bring his impressive record to 24-1(13 ko’s).
Born in Tunisia, Ben Rabah boxed as an amatuer 65 times(60w 5l), which culminated in him representing his country at the Sydney Olympics. While Ben Rabah didn’t win a medal or receive any of the attention some other countries stars did, he managed to impress former world champion Jeff Fenech and trainer Angelo Hyder, who convinced him to stay on in Australia and box as a professional with them giuding his career.
Ben Rabah suffered his only loss early in his career, jumping from four and six rounders to a 12 round title match with undefeated African Fred Kunithia that Ben Rabah says only made him stronger.
“ I won the fight, it was close, but I know I won, the only reason it was close was because I had never gone 12 rounds before and the distance was new and gave me some trouble. Everyone loses, it wasn’t a bad loss, it just made me work harder and gave me experience to go 12 rounds. I beat him twice after that, one time over 12 rounds which shows the change from what I learned the first time.”
After relocating to Perth to train with Craig Christian, (who also trains WBA Featherweight Champion Chris John) Ben Rabah has beaten every fighter around his weight in Australia, and has been recently adding experienced interntional scalps to his resume.
The only fight left in Australia for Ben Rabah that is of interest is with fellow Australian-based African, Lovemore Ndou.
Ndou, giving tough fights to Sharmba Mitchell and Miguel Cotto, has always claimed there were bigger fish to fry than Ben Rabah, but now finds himself out of the picture having come up short in his big fights, and has resorted to belittling other possible opponents for Hatton on the internet to try and put his name in the mix for a final shot at the championship.
“ Ndou is a big mouth, he likes to talk, but I’m not like him, when he went to America he was a punching bag, he got the shit beaten out of him in America. When I fight I will do it, I don’t have a big mouth,” said Ben Rabah.
Ben Rabah is respectfull of Hatton but says: “I am too smart, I will use my brain and not stand in front of Hatton, I can box and move, he is always coming straight forward, always the same.”
If Hatton chooses to overlook the unknown quantity in Ben Rabah he will be stripped of his title for failing to defend against the number one contender, in today’s boxing world, the risk versus reward ratio has never been more important, with millions of dollars on the line and the fans not caring about yesterdays hero. In Ben Rabah, the risk is high and the reward not for Hatton.
So , all Ben Rabah can do is wait and see, will Hatton defend his title against the number one challenger, or opt for a bigger name fight and be stripped of his title, leaving Ben Rabah and the highest available challenger to duke it out.
www.markdemori.com