Hasim Rahman? A good fighter should beat him. He is at the level of good fighter, but not great. Most greats beat him easily.
-No, and neither was Rahman at the time. It was still a good HBO win that helped Rahman squeeze into lower tier rankings...and somehow get a undeserved title shot at Lewis that he took full advantage of to his credit. -Rahman's performances in those draws were so terrible and unimpressive that its difficult to sympathize. [url]http://a.espncdn.com/boxing/news/2003/0329/1531360.html[/url] Rahman/Tua II trashed by ESPN. -Vitali, Ruiz, and Byrd is/were all good belt holders with more impressive wins over ranked fighters than Rahman..including Holyfield who managed to beat Rahman inbetween losses to Ruiz and Byrd. How Ruiz and Byrd would do in a theoretical match up with a disinterested Lewis is irrelevant. I think they were just much more consistently successful fighters..depends on how much emphasis you put on a few great individual performances I suppose.
You saw the Tua fight and though Rahman looked Old:huh I think he had decent speed for a hw in his prime which i thought was he was when he faced Tua. If Rahman were in his peak today he would easily be the number 3 guy behind the Klits, In fact id give a punchers chance at Wlad. I would also put money down that he would ko Haye or Adamek.
That sums it up but what classification would you give it? Personally I think that's almost the definition of a "B" level fighter. Obviously good/great champs aren't "B" fighters, and "C" fighters don't win championships or ever get to fight for titles. And what category of fighter would you classify the Sanders, Tua's, etc. of the sport if not "B" level fighters, all three were good who had flaws.
I liked Rahman, as a yound driven kid he was awesome and was a great puncher in a good division.. Now.... he is horrible, i watched him get his face blasted in Las Vegas 2 weeks ago by Friday Ahunanya before he went to face Shannon Miller... His nose was a mess and he could hardly stand up for 3 rounds.. he is a retired fighter..
I like the Rock! But I would also say a B level fighter. He had the big win over Lennox but was dominated in the rematch. I enjoyed watching him fight, most of his fights were entertaining. The Maskaev and Sanders fights were nice slugfests.
Twice. Maskaev got to him twice. I like the guy. He has a knockout win over Lewis, and also one over Corrie Sanders. He was an undisputed champ, and also got an additional WBC title. Pretty darn good career.
He was good enough to make George Foreman reject him as an opponent and instead fight Shannon Briggs.
So did Emanuel Steward, whose opinion is worth more You're pretty much spot-on. He had physical gifts that he never nurtured, and was never going to be a speed demon no matter what.
He doesn't make my top 30 all time HW. can't put him above Maskaev . Maskaev pulls Rahman down , Rahman pushes Maskaev up. Rahman had 2 good wins over Lewis and Sanders. Also some decisions and stoppages over dangerous opponents that should count to his favor. Also 2 respectable draws against Toney (P4P it is not respectable , but H2H it is , and ranking inside a division is done according to H2H) and Tua. Rahman never lost to Tua (a punch after the bell) nor to Holyfield (should have been a DQ win for Rahman). What prevents him from making my top 30 all time HW , is not the lack of quality wins , it is the Maskaev Losses. He achieved more than Mercer both good and bad. He has more respectable wins and less respectable losses , both in quantity and in quality. Mercer and Maskaev don't make my top 30 either . But Rahman may be in my top 50 , which means Maskaev may be there too and one place above him. Both Rahman's and Maskaev's quality of opposition was significantly better than Mercer's.
Regarding the comparison to Ruiz and Moorer , I think he should be rated approximately where they are (not in my top 30 either). He did much better than both of them against Tua , better than Moorer against Holyfield (not trying to say worse than Ruiz). Also outdid Ruiz against Toney. But he is close to them in his level although might be slightly better. I don't know much about the Ruiz-Rahman fight.
If you watch the first Lewis fight again, you will see Rahman connects with an uppercut, then Lennox smiles briefly, drops his guard and THEN the huge right hand lands that sends him to dreamland. I am not sure if one can call it a true lucky shot. It's really worse: It was a punishment for Lewis' cockiness and carelessness. It had more to do with Lewis' lack of discipline inside the ring than with Rahman's luck.