Boxing: Rahman retains WBC crown

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey  - Hasim "The Rock" Rahman retained his World Boxing Council heavyweight title yesterday after judges ruled his 12-round bout against fellow-American James Toney a majority draw.

Rahman was a 117-111 winner on judge John Stewart's scorecard, but Thomas Kaczmarek and Nobuaki Uratani both had it 114-114 at Boardwalk Hall. Uratani gave Toney the last five rounds to bring it even on his card.

Neither fighter scored a knockdown in the bout, which saw lots of action at close quarters with Rahman carrying the fight to the challenger.

Toney, who seemed content to lean back against the ropes and reel off counter-punches, threw fewer punches but landed the cleaner shots.

The challenger was uncut while Rahman had a small cut over his left eyelid and on his lower lip.

"I'm the champ and I thought I won the bout clean," said Rahman. "Even though it was a draw, I'm still the champ and I can go on from here."

Rahman's record went to 41-5-2, while Toney's now stands at 69-4-3.

"I thought I won it by two or three points," the stocky Toney said. "I thought we had the edge."

The fight was Rahman's first defence of the WBC crown he was awarded when Vitali Klitschko, who had canceled four fight dates against Rahman due to injury, retired.

While both men had vowed to emerge from the fight as the true heavyweight champion among boxing's various organizations, the bout failed to deliver fireworks and was instead a tactical battle waged in close with short, stabbing punches.

The 6-foot-2 Rahman had a big height and reach advantage but instead of trying to keep Toney at bay with his jab, fought on the challenger's terms, wading inside and pounding his strong right hand into Toney's left side.

"I was competitive inside," said Rahman. "I was comfortable fighting him on the inside even though the gameplan was to use the jab."

Toney, a former world middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion, was the more explosive of the two, unleashing overhand right leads and bristling uppercuts after absorbing a steady inside pounding by Rahman.

Toney landed three overhand rights in the third but Rahman answered with a powerful right of his own that sent the challenger stumbling across the ring.

Rahman suffered a cut lip in the seventh and was left with a cut over his left eye after an exciting exchange against the ropes in the eighth.

Despite the occasional crisp connections by Toney, Rahman never seemed in trouble and was more then energetic and aggressive than his 5-foot-9, 237-pound opponent.

Both fighters said they wanted a rematch.

"I can beat James Toney, and I beat him tonight," Rahman said. "If we fight again we will make adjustments and do better."

- REUTERS