Boxing: To the loser: all is spoiled

By PETER JESSUP

The lives and boxing careers of David Tua and Hasim Rahman are uncannily similar.

Both were raised in large families in working-class suburbs, both roamed on the fringes of street gangs, both had a son early in life, both found a way out of trouble through boxing. Both have fought for and lost the world title, though Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis then lost the same way, whereas Tua was out-pointed.

But there is nothing similar about the approach each has taken to their rematch in Philadelphia this weekend, a fight that will effectively consign one to the ranks of the also-rans, the other to a second tilt at the world heavyweight crown.

The winner of their IBF eliminator at the Philadelphia Spectrum First Union stadium takes the No 1 ranking for the organisation and is mandatory challenger to belt-holder Chris Byrd.

Tua's fights usually roll around without too much of the standard pre-fight hype - trash-talking bluster in which combatants beef up their own opinion of themselves.

This one is different. Rahman has made no secret of the fact he wants revenge for the loss to Tua in December 1998, when he claims he was hit after the bell in round nine then taken out in round 10 while still dazed.

"The fat midget is going to get hurt," has been his slogan.

But United States commentators are picking a Tua win, a heavy 40-2 vote in his favour in a poll of boxing writers conducted by his promotions company. Most don't expect Rahman to stick around much past round four and all bar the two expect it to be over inside eight.

The reason? Rahman is regarded as a sort of Buster Douglas who, having been to the top, now has no desire for the work required to get back there.

Rahman was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, the second oldest of eight brothers and three sisters, their father an engineer. He dropped out of school after fourth-form and was soon in trouble with the police. By 18 he had a son, Hasim jnr, and now credits taking responsibility for the child for turning his life around.

He worked for his father, discovered boxing at age 20 and had amassed an undefeated record of 29 bouts when he met Tua that Florida night.

Rahman was well ahead on points, having won every round of nine, when Tua landed a flurry in the 10th that forced the referee to stop it and award a TKO. Rahman has always said he was still stunned, should have had a five-minute respite to recover as allowed in the rules instead of the standard one minute between rounds.

The loss sent his career spiralling. When he was beaten by Oleg Maskaev the following year it looked like he might be all over as a contender. But South African promoters threw a lifeline. Lennox Lewis was attracted to put his world titles up for a huge purse and they needed a credible fighter but one who couldn't win - at a reasonable price, around US$1.5 million ($2.73 million).

Enter "The Rock". Lewis trained by filming scenes for the movie Oceans Eleven. Rahman ran a serious camp. When the champ turned up in Johannesburg unfit and flabby, his 253lbs the heaviest he'd ever taken into the ring, Rahman took him out with a big right hand in the fifth.

There are plenty of curious comparisons between what was labelled "The Right That Rocked the World" and Muhammad Ali's upset of champ George Foreman in Zaire nearly 30 years earlier, not least the fact the bout was staged in the early hours of the morning to suit American television.

But The Rock's reign was short, losing emphatically to a fitter, more serious Lewis in Las Vegas eight months later. He got US$10m for his trouble.

As a Don King-contracted fighter his next bout was against another King combatant, Evander Holyfield. He fell to ring tactics and experience, a Holyfield head-butt raising a huge lump on his forehead, the Atlanta veteran amassing points with a punch-then-hold campaign.

And it's that loss to Holyfield which haunts his reputation more than the Tua defeat. Rahman threw 39 punches per round in that bout compared with a heavyweight average of 84. It was a wrestle-fest. There was no evidence Rahman could box like he used to.

In the fight with Tua he threw 84 punches per round, landing around 28 per cent.

Tua threw 42 per round but landed 48 per cent, including a high percentage of his power-punches.

Rahman has his back to the wall now. If he loses, as seems likely, it will be by knockout. He stands to be written off as a glass jaw, a second-rate performer who ranks only as a stepping-stone for up-and-comers.

But that's not the future he sees for himself, at least not in the pre-fight hype.

"I know what it takes to get there [world title] and I feel I can get there again."

But, having sacked his trainer Bouie Fisher two weeks ago for Buddy McGirt, who cannot be in his corner in Philadelphia because he is contracted to Main Events, Rahman has mouthed a bad fight plan.

"I'm going to mix it up a bit, I ain't going to run around and stay away from him. I'm going to stand up to his punches and hit him back."

The general prediction is that Rahman will outbox Tua for the early rounds but that sooner or later the South Aucklander will catch up with him, and with one punch it will be "Goodnight Nurse". Vegas bookies have Tua 9-5 on and expect a KO before round eight.

* TV: TV2, from 2pm Sunday.

Tale of the tape


DAVID TUA


* Born 21/11/1971 at Faleatiu, Samoa.

* Height 5'10".

* Weight about 245lbs

* Reach 69"

* Fight record 42-3 (37KOs)

HASIM RAHMAN


* Born: 7/11/1972, Baltimore, Maryland

Height 6'2"

* Reach 82"

* Record 35-4 (29 KOs)

RATINGS


IBF Champ Chris Byrd

1. Not Rated

2. Fres Oquendo

3. David Tua

4. Hasim Rahman

5. Vitali Klitschko

6. John Ruiz

7. Evander Holyfield

8. Kirk Johnson

9. Mike Tyson

10. Lamon Brewster

WBC Champion Lennox Lewis

1. Vitali Klitschko

2. Hasim Rahman

3. Mike Tyson

4. Evander Holyfield

5. David Tua

6. Lamon Brewster

7. John Ruiz

8. Kirk Johnson

9. Fres Oquendo

10. Sinan Samil Sam

WBA Champ Roy Jones Jr.

1. Vitali Klitschko

2. David Tua

3. Hasim Rahman

4. Mike Tyson

5. Evander Holyfield

6. Fres Oquendo

7. Kirk Johnson

8. Faruq Saleem

9. Lamon Brewster

10. Joe Mesi