By Jeff Bastasini: Former WBC heavyweight boxing champion Hasim Rahman (42-6-2, 33 KOs) and David Tua (48-3-1, 41 KOs) both return to action tonight in stay-busy fights at the Soaring Eagle Casino, Mt. Rahman, now 34, is going up against veteran fighter Dicky Ryan (55-9, 44 KOs), whereas Tua, 34, will be fighting Cerrone Fox (8-5, 3 KOs)..
Rahman, ranked #4 by the WBC, is making his second fight since losing his title by 12th round TKO to Oleg Maskaev on August 6th, 2006. In his most recent fight, against Taurus Sykes on June 1th, Rahman came into the fight weighing a huge 261 lbs, and not surprisingly, fought poorly in the process of winning a lackluster 10-round unanimous decision.
Rahman weighed in at 251 lbs for tonight’s fight with Ryan, a better weight for Rahman, to be sure, but still 15 pounds away from his optimal weight of 235 lbs.
At 34, Rahman is still one of the top fighters in the heavyweight division (when he’s in shape), and with his knockout power, he’s a tough matchup for most of the heavyweights in the top 10, including the champions. Even though Rahman’s had his share of tough luck in his career, he’s perhaps only 2-3 fights away from another shot at the WBC heavyweight title. With his ability to box and punch, he’d be a tough opponent for someone like Samuel Peter, who will possibly be the WBC heavyweight champion if he defeats Oleg Maskaev in their October 6th heavyweight championship bout at Madison Square Garden.
Tua, ranked #12 by the WBC, recently stopped Saul Montana in the 1st round last month, showing glimpses of his old speed and power. With newfound dedication to training, Tua weighed in at 237 lbs for his bout with Montana, the lowest that he had weighed in six years. At yesterday’s weigh-in, Tua weighed in at 234 lbs for tonight’s bout with Fox, the 2nd lowest weight for Tua since his bout with Chris Byrd in August 2001. There are rumors circulating in the boxing world about Tua possibly challenging IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko early next year.
If so, it would set up an intriguing bout of setting up a David vs. Goliath matchup with the 5’10” Tua going up against the 6’7″ Klitschko. In some ways, the bout is eerily similar to Tua’s title challenge with the 6’5″ former IBF/WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis on November 11, 2000. Tua, despite huge expectations, fought poorly in the bout, losing a lopsided 12-round decision, and was unable to deal with Lewis’ huge size and reach advantage.