Well i don't think the gap is that big. From memory, he had 25 or so fights when he came up against Machen. Eddie was pretty far past his best but still beat him. Ellis beat him too. Ruiz, love him or hate him, accomplished perhaps as much or more as Ellis and Machen with Maskaev somewhat behind them. The Chuvalo loss was somewhat controversial although there is the possibility that he quit: he was mentally messed up because of his father. You could put this on par with Rahman losing to Holyfield, which was somewhat controversial with that huge headbutt-lump on his forehead. Add to that that Quarry not only lost to Frazier and Ali, but was completely outclassed on all four occasions. I don't think he took more than a few rounds in all of those combined. Rahman did prove he was able to beat a great fighter in Lewis. Granted, he lost all rounds up to the 5th and was convincingly beaten when Lewis seemed better trained/focused, but still..... Let's say they're pretty close, anyway.
In terms of losses, probably not. Quarry had exactly 20 fights to his credit, with only 17 of them wins. The other 3 were ruled draws. Additionally, he was something like 20 or 21 years old. The year was 1966, and Quarry would not peak until sometime between 1970-1973. Machen was certainly past his best, and losing regularly though. Take your pick at who was more disadvantaged. A fight that was ruled a majority decision, and against a very respectable opponent. Well, Ellis managed to beat Bonavena, Chuvalo, Patterson, Martin and of course Quarry. Ruiz won some dicey decisions over fighters who were past prime, or not very good to begin with, so again take your pick. This is somewhat speculative, and anyway I've been told that Quarry suffered a knockdown, but got up late as a result of bad timing on his part. Could be a bull**** excuse for all I know, but just about everyone I've ever talked to, said the fight was pretty much garbage. Fair enough. Good points, but competitive or not, Quarry was beaten by prime versions of Frazier and Ali, while Rahman defeated an aging Lewis and was then killed by him in the rematch. Of course, we could say that Quarry fought Ali for the first time, when Ali hadn't fought in years, and Frazier was slipping a bit in 1975, but once again, take your pick. Let's say they're pretty close, anyway.[/quote]
Rhaman looked like crap in victory vs Barrett and Cole. Rhaman barley edged Obed Sullivan, a fighter who Vitlai domianted with ease and stopped. Rhaman looked very poor vs Ruiz, and an older Holyfield. Losing to these two the way he did makes one sratch his head. Of course these were Don King Matches, so you never know. Rhaman was a sucker. The story goes King showed in a sack full of cash, then Hassim signed a lousy deal Lewis starched him cold. Maskev Knocked Rhaman out of the ring, then scored another Ko over Rhaman as an older fighter. I don't think Rhaman was better than Vitlai was, but you could say he did beat a better fighter in Lewis.
Rahman has one very big win over Lewis and a couple lesser but still good wins-Sanders and Barrett. I thought his draws with Tua and Toney should have been wins for Rahman. His losses will set him back but they were to solid ranked guys and Rahman himself has been a top 10 fighter for years. He has also fought a high level of competition. I've never rated that high but if someone put him in their top 50 heavyweights than I don't see a big problem there. He had some strengths- jab, power, and fearless but he also had some big weaknesses-mobility, chin, and consistency. I think, overall, he is a bit underappreciated only because I think a lot write him off as simply having one big win and nothing else but there is a little more to him than that.
One of the things I like about Rahman is he didn't duck anyone, if you have a look at his resume it basically includes everyone except maybe Bowe and Ibeabuchi and if they had been still fighting I am sure they would be there Oh deary me I forgot he never fought a Klitschko I must be wrong.
Not his fault the Klitschko cancelled the fight 4 different times, only to fully postpone the fight 4 days before the fight takes place in a sudden retirement.
people forget rahman was a good boxer, very powerful jab. He was far ahead on the scorecards in the first tua and first maskaev fights.
and he knocked out 6'6 Meehan. Your possibly right. good point. so maybe he would have done well vs the klitschkos
I agree with the consensus that Rahman is underated. From a legacy point of view, it really is a must that Rahman fight both brothers. I know Rahman is past his best, but i think that this match would tell us a lot about both fighters legacy, in the long run.
I've always liked Rahman myself. True, he was not especially gifted but he was a good honest pro who took his chance when it came his way. Many claim he was lucky against Lewis but what impressed me in that fight was that he came to fight, and stunned Lewis more than once before knocking him out. In the second fight what is ignored (probably because of the KO) was how many times he caught Lewis flush with clean, hard jabs. During his comeback he also fought often and was not content to sit on his laurels and fight once every six months. Okay, some of the competition was not so great, but nonetheless he was very active for a heavyweight. I know he could come off as a bit of a braggart and loudmouth, but someone I know once met him when he was here for the first Lewis fight and said that Hasim was extremely friendly and actually quite humble.
Yes, Chuvalo caught him with a few good shots and he went down. He could've gotten up as he did immediatly... whether he quit or mistimed the count we'll never know. The fight used to be on YouTube, i think it has been deleted however.
That is what Russell said. I do not think Tua should have been DQ'd. However it is clear that the late punch after the bell was the punch that won the fight for Tua. Though Rhaman had a full minute to rest in-between rounds, it was not enough for him. Perhaps boxing should change the rules regarding late punches that produce knockdowns . hurt after after the bell. It should have the same rules as a low blow. That is a fighter has up to 5 minutes to recuperate.