Columnist Dean Juipe: Is Rahman only renting the throne?

Dean Juipe

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Hasim Rahman is $10 million richer regardless, but if he doesn't defeat Lennox Lewis in the first defense of his heavyweight championship Saturday night at Mandalay Bay he runs the risk of being labeled this era's Trevor Berbick or Pinklon Thomas.

Or Tim Witherspoon.

Or Greg Page.

Or Tony Tubbs.

There was a flock of crummy heavyweight champions in the 1980s and all are seen for what they were: fill-ins until a "real" champion emerged, which, in the case of the men above was Mike Tyson.

Rahman's reign could be just as interim, just as susceptible to ridicule should it be limited to one seven-month stretch in 2001. A Lewis victory, let alone an easy Lewis victory, reduces Rahman from would-be idol to will-be idle.

He will have no marketability in defeat, a situation that plagued Berbick, Thomas et al after they had relinquished their championships some 15 years ago.

Berbick is generally perceived as the worst heavyweight champion in modern history. At 34 years old he took the World Boxing Council championship from Thomas in 1986 only to have to fight Tyson eight months later.

"Being ugly and mean is not enough to beat me," he said before the fight, taunting Tyson.

Their match at the Las Vegas Hilton was over within two rounds, referee Mills Lane stopping the bout and Tyson uttering a still-famous remark that he was firing at Berbick with "murderous intentions."

Thomas, who preceded Berbick on the WBC throne, was equally despised. A heroin addict at the age of 14, he cleaned up long enough to grab a decision from Witherspoon at the Riviera hotel, doing so in spite of Witherspoon's continual complaints to referee Richard Steele that Thomas was thumbing him.

The heavyweight division was at rock bottom and bore no likeness to what lay ahead, when Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Evander Holyfield and, later, Lewis, added the requisite interest, intrigue and talent that it takes to spur widespread public appeal.

Lewis may come across as distant or aloof by some, yet he has been perceived as a worthy champion during two previous reigns and many in the sport would like to see him on top again.

Rahman, in contrast, does not have Lewis' credentials and it was startling when he upset the champion last April in South Africa. Whether it was a fluke or not will be resolved before what is likely to be a spirited crowd in the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

I wavered on a prediction on this fight all the way until the middle of the week, knowing above everything else that even in defeat Rahman will not go easily. He has had a taste of the riches of being champion and he has a determination that a mere assortment of punches from Lewis will not alleviate.

He may, as he claims, have Lewis' number.

Yet I'm going with Lewis on his experience, athleticism and guile. He's taller than Rahman and he may have the better chin.

I think he'll wear down the current champ, who a year ago was fighting such innocuous men as Frankie Swindell, and take him out in the final third of the scheduled 12-round fight.

Whether Rahman then morphs into Berbick remains to be seen.