Toney-Rahman II - "Loser retires"

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Toney-Rahman: Loser retires!
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]July 14, 2008 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One and done.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At least that is something both James Toney and Hasim Rahman will agree to. The loser of their scheduled heavyweight bout on Wednesday night should no longer be considered a prizefighter and should retire.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The winner will prolong his career in a vulnerable heavyweight division and attempt to challenge one of the title holders.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Both fighters will face off at the Pechanga Resort and Casino on Wednesday night in Temecula, CA in a 12 round bout for the NABO heavyweight title.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The bout will headline an appropriately-headlined "Last Chance" card, presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, along with Top Rank and Don King Productions. The bout will be televised live on Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The attention over the weekend on the boxing world was on the bright lights of Hamburg, Germany where IBF and WBO Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko stopped contender Tony Thompson in the 11th round. Now the focus will be at a resort and casino in the Southern California desert where two fighters hope to prolong their careers in a so-called weak division.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]For Toney, (70-6-3, 43 KOs) from Sherman Oaks, CA, it has been a long journey since making his professional debut almost 20 years ago and different weight classes.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Although the fighter known as "Lights Out" is not the fighter he was a number of years ago, he has been known to surprise not just the media and boxing insiders, and mostly his opponents.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After winning world titles at Middleweight and Super Middleweight, Toney lost back to back fights to Roy Jones and Montell Griffin, Toney positioned himself back into being a contender at 175 pounds. However, weight issues and disappointing defeats to Griffin again and Drake Thadzi in 1997 brought his career to a standstill.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After ballooning to a then-high of 226 pounds, Toney hooked up with [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]promoter Dan Goossen and won a world title for the third time when he impressively decisioned then-unbeaten Vassily Jirov in 2003.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After making a successful transition to the Heavyweight ranks with a stoppage defeat over Evander Holyfield, Toney would win a minor belt[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Unfortunately for Toney, he lost two consecutive bouts at the hands of current WBC Heavyweight champion Samuel Peter.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rahman, (45-6-2, 36 KOs) from Baltimore, MD, may have less pedigree and accolades than Toney. However, he is a two-time world champion and has won his last four bouts in a row.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After beginning his professional career unbeaten, Rahman suffered knockout defeats at the hands of David Tua and Oleg Maskaev, the latter where he was knocked out of the ring.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After building up his record, Rahman pulled off a major upset by knocking out an unfocused Lennox Lewis in South Africa in 2001. His reign was short-lived as a motivated Lewis came into the rematch prepared, stopping Rahman in the fourth round.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rahman would go winless in his next three bouts after the Lewis rematch. However, he would win his next five bouts in a row to earn a shot at the vacant WBC title. He would win by unanimous decision over Monte Barrett in 2005.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]He would lose the belt to Oleg Maskaev in August of 2006, when he was stopped in the 12 round in an entertaining and close bout.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Both Toney and Rahman are familiar with one another both inside and outside of the ring. Prior to Rahman defending the title a second time against Maskaev, Rahman defended the title against Toney in March of 2006. Both fighters had their moments in bout that ended in a 12 round majority decision draw.[/FONT]

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