by James Slater – At one point in time it looked as though former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman would travel to New Zealand in an effort to continue his career; possibly in a third match with the recently (and very impressively) returned David Tua. This does not look to be the case now, however, at least not according to BoxRec’s upcoming schedule for November.
According to the invaluable and almost always accurate web site, “The Rock” will square off with former WBO heavyweight ruler “Merciless” Ray Mercer, in Rochester New York on November 19th.. No doubt some fans will groan at the possibility of such a match-up, while no doubt others still will say they could not care less, but the fact is, at least both veterans are a decent match for each other. And who knows, a good action scrap could take place.
Neither guy has been active as of late (Mercer’s stunning 9-second KO of MMA’s Tim Sylvia aside) and both guys have clearly seen better days. But both big punchers want to fight on, and who are we to tell them no? After all, “Smokin'” Bert Cooper, no less, is set to make a ring return soon. Rahman and Mercer can still fight, at a reasonable level. But who will win when (and if) they meet next month?
Rahman, 45-7-2(36) is the younger man at age 36, compared to Mercer’s 48 years, but he is coming off a bad, one-sided stoppage loss to Wladimir Klitschko. It’s not clear how much that title fight loss took out of the former two-time heavyweight king, but in the fight that took place last December in Germany Rahman looked pretty listless. Mercer’s recent form has been no more impressive, but he will at least be coming in off a win – last September, against Richel Hersisia – and, whatever you thought about the Sylvia fight, at least Ray had himself some live action.
The Hersisia win (points, 6) took place last September, though, and that’s a long time ago. On November 19th, both big guys will likely be a touch rusty to say the least. But the fight could well be exciting to watch – and a KO, one way or the other, has a great chance of happening. It’s not clear what either guy believes a win will lead to, but with a number of other veteran heavyweights continuing to fight, there could well be a few more paydays out there for next month’s winner.
I pick “Merciless,” 36-7-1(26) to get the win in Rochester, and I think he just might blast Rahman out of there whilst getting it. In reality, however, this fight is one where just about anything could happen. But be honest, if it’s on free T.V, you’ll watch it, won’t you?