By James Slater: Uninterested in a fight with unbeaten British hope Tyson Fury, former world ruler Hasim “The Rock” Rahman will instead return to action against cruiserweight/heavyweight Willie Herring on June 11th in Southaven, Mississippi.
38-year-old Rahman was offered a recent date with Fury, yet declined the offer, saying he had insufficient time to get himself ready for the heavily-hyped 6’9” Brit. Currently 4-0(4) since returning to action after his drubbing at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko, “Rock” should have no problems beating 32-year-old Herring.
The Floridian has a so-so 12-9-3(3) record, with many of these bouts taking place at cruiserweight. Not a huge guy any more than he is a big puncher, Herring is at least durable; having been stopped just once in his nine-year pro career. Exciting slugger Emmanuel Nwodo is the only man to have stopped Herring (TKO’ing him in four-rounds back in 2004) – that fight taking place down at 195-pounds.
On his best day, Herring has been capable of holding Sean George to a draw, and of taking Matt Godfrey the distance. Again, however, Herring met these notable names when fighting as a cruiser. Loser of his last three, the 32-year-old dropped an eight-round UD to Victor Bisbal in his most recent outing, this defeat coming back in April of this year.
If Rahman, 49-7-2(40) comes in in good shape and if he is in no mood to hang about and get himself some rounds, he should become the second man to halt Herring. The Baltimore man can still crack pretty good, with his right hand in particular, and he has had little trouble bowling over fighters the calibre of his forthcoming opponent in recent months. But will Rahman ever feature in a truly meaningful fight again? Perhaps happy enough picking up decent paydays as he blasts away journeymen, Rahman may simply be filling up his bank account as he readies himself for retirement. Or, is Rahman gathering momentum as he awaits one last big fight?
Whatever his plans are, “Rock” will not see them spoilt by Herring – barring one big upset, anyway. Scheduled for ten-rounds, June 11th’s bout will, in my opinion, be lucky to reach the half-way stage.