Hasim Rahman v Damon Reed
In case you were wondering, Hasim Rahman is still boxing. He faces journeyman “Dangerous” Damon Reed tomorrow night in Virginia as he continues along his comeback trail.
Harrowingly it’s probably fair to consider the 37-year old veteran as still a contender in the unlimited weight division.
Rahman held the IBF, IBO and WBC champion briefly in 2001 after a surprise victory over Lennox Lewis in South Africa. Lewis got immediate revenge for the defeat in a rematch just six months later with a fifth round TKO, but it was enough to established Rahman among the elite in the heavyweight division.
After that “The Rock” again briefly held the belt as a paper champion following Vitali Klitschko’s retirement in 2005, but lost it soon after to Oleg Maskaev.
We last saw the Baltimore native fight at the top level when he was defeated by Wladimir Klitschko at the tail end of 2008 as he tried to reclaim the IBF, IBO and WBO straps. A seventh round TKO induced a two year hiatus from the sport, but earlier this year Rahman blew the cobwebs off the gloves and beat journeyman Clinton Boldridge before following up Shannon Miller.
Rahman has had a strange career. These days he fights off a record of 47-7-2 with 38 KO’s, but began his career way back in 1994 as a 22-year old former gang member from Baltimore who had been shot five times. He rose through the ranks to become an unluckily world champion and managed to sustain a top level career for about ten years.
As a fighter he is a powerful hitter with a nice right hook, but doesn’t always cover up well and has frequently fallen against some of the better fighters that he has faced, such as the Klitschkos, Lewis, Maskaev, David Tua and Evander Holyfield.
His rival for tomorrows fight is Reed who will be familiar to British boxing fans with half-decent memories as the man defeated by Herbie Hide in the pairs 1998 WBO title fight. Up until Hide, Reed was developing nicely just the one defeat in 27, although bizarrely he has been involved in four no contests.
After Hide, Reed’s career went south rapidly, going from contender to also ran overnight. However he can be considered a better opponent than Boldridge and Miller, a notable step up in calibre for The Rock.
Dangerous has suffered a few defeats against decent fighters such as Monte Barrett and Kali Meehan but has definitely taken on journeyman status now. To be honest, not much has been seen of the 38-year-old since his world title shot.
He boasts more knockout power than you would think to look at him, scoring 32 KO’s from 45 fights including two in his last two. He lacks that true quality to be a top level fighter but has certainly been around the perimeters.
So can Rahman come back from the dead, secure the win, get a fight against a Klitschko, exact his revenge and miraculously become heavyweight champion of the world again?
No.
Although he will probably win tonight.
Prediction: Rahman 4-9th round KO
It should be routine for the former champion. He should notice the improvement in calibre of his opponent but also should be able to step up with it.
Both men possess good KO records so expect this fight to be over within the time, however Rahman's knockouts have come against noticeably better opponents and he has spent a career at slightly higher level than Reed.
Expect a fairly comfortable KO for Rahman, although Reed will test him and it will be interesting to see how Rahman covers up and defends when Reed is throwing down. Ultimately though the more experienced man will surely prevail.
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