Columnist Jeff Haney: Posturing intense for heavyweight title fight

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Jeff Haney's boxing column appears Thursday. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.

By his own admission, Hasim Rahman's most recent effort in the ring was a bit of a downer.

"I felt like it was about a C performance," Rahman said of his unanimous but lackluster decision against Monte Barrett last month in Chicago in a WBC heavyweight elimination bout.

Even so, Rahman said he considers the outcome of that fight a "blessing in disguise." As Rahman tells it, if he had instead scored an early knockout, he might have scared off reigning WBC champion Vitali Klitschko.

Instead, Klitschko (35-2, 34 knockouts) and Rahman (41-5-1, 33 KOs) will clash Nov. 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in a long-awaited -- and twice-delayed -- world heavyweight championship fight. Tickets went on sale Wednesday for the bout, which will be televised by HBO Pay-Per-View ($49.95).

"If I would've gone in there and mowed Monte down, I believe this fight would not be taking place," Rahman said after a news conference this week at Caesars Palace. "Klitschko probably would have tripped and hurt his shoulder or something."

Rahman's wisecrack was the latest in a series of digs he has made against Klitschko leading to the title fight, which was originally scheduled for the spring but was pushed back because of injuries sustained by the Ukrainian champ.

Klitschko had minor back surgery earlier this year to repair a nerve, a setback which has kept him out of action since he beat Danny Williams last December. Rahman contends Klitschko fabricated his health problems to avoid facing him in the ring.

"I look at it like, yeah, he was faking it," Rahman said. "I think he was dodging me."

Klitschko, normally stoic, bristled at the suggestion and vowed to punish Rahman in the ring.

"He said I'm afraid, that I was making excuses," Klitschko said. "It's not true. ...

"I had an injury, and I couldn't fight in April. ... Now I'm happy, healthy and ready for my next fight."

Klitschko, who has a doctorate in sports science from the University of Kiev and speaks four languages, had a crowd of curious onlookers at Caesars transfixed as he addressed Rahman in his staccato English.

"You are the world champion -- of talking," he told Rahman. "Can you be the world champion by boxing? I doubt it."

Klitschko asked Rahman if he agreed the fight would not last its scheduled 12 rounds, and Rahman nodded.

"I will knock you out," Klitsckho said to Rahman.

"Thank you for your attention," he said to the crowd.

The two heavyweights later engaged in one of the more prolonged and intense staredowns in recent memory, breaking it off only when publicists stepped in to separate them.

Afterward, Rahman sounded delighted to have elicited such a response from his opponent.

"You've seen Klitschko before," said Rahman, a Baltimore native who lives and trains in Las Vegas. "Since when does he talk? He's always so dull and boring. I can get under his skin. I can bring it out of him."

Rahman, 32, won the world heavyweight championship by beating Lennox Lewis in 2001, but lost a rematch seven months later. He says he's motivated by a desire to regain the title, though he's a betting underdog of more than 3-1 against 34-year-old Klitschko.

"I think he's gonna quit around the seventh or eighth round, once he realizes that I can take his power," Rahman said. "He's too smart to stay in there against me. He's a doctor or something like that, right?"

More than half of the tickets for the fight were immediately acquired by host properties Caesars and Wynn Las Vegas, according to promoter Bob Arum, with remaining seats priced from $50 to $1,000.

"Unfortunately (Klitschko) stubbed his toe a couple of times, but now his toe's all better," Rahman said. "I'm looking forward to this fight. ...

"I know he's gonna be ready for it. I know I'm gonna get hit harder than I've ever gotten hit in my life. But so is he."

Peter-Klitschko

Another Las Vegas heavyweight -- rising star Samuel Peter -- takes a step up in class Saturday when he faces Wladimir Klitschko in the most significant fight of his career.

The winner of the fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (HBO) will become the No. 1 heavyweight contender in the rankings of the IBF and the WBO. The victor will likely have his choice of fighting the winner of the forthcoming bouts between Lamon Brewster and Luan Krasniqi (Sept. 28 in Germany) or Chris Byrd and DaVarryl Williamson (Oct. 1 in Reno).

Peter, 25, is 24-0 with 21 knockouts but has never fought a boxer of Klitschko's caliber. Wladimir, Vitali's younger brother, is 44-3 with 40 KOs.

"I know this is the most important fight of my career," said Peter, a minus-170 betting favorite (risk $1.70 to win $1). "I know I'm stepping up in class, but if I expect to become world champion I have to beat him. I will -- and I will go on to become world champion."

Peter's manager Ivaylo Ghotzev had some tough words for Klitschko at a New York news conference this week.

"I'm glad to see Wladimir is still here," Ghotzev said after arriving late due to traffic in midtown Manhattan. "I was afraid he'd chicken out and leave. As long as he doesn't chicken out Saturday, that's the main thing."

On Saturday's undercard, WBO junior welterweight champ Miguel Cotto (24-0, 20 KOs) puts his belt on the line against No. 1-rated Ricardo Torres (28-0, 26 KOs).

"It really doesn't matter who I fight," Cotto, a 20-1 betting favorite, said. "I'm prepared to take on whoever Top Rank puts in front of me. I'm comfortable at my fighting weight of 140 and I plan to remain in this division for the next 12 to 14 months."

Orleans card

Heriberto Ruiz, ranked No. 4 by the IBF and No. 9 by the WBO at bantamweight, headlines a Friday card at the Orleans against Samuel Lopez. The two will fight a scheduled 10-rounder in the main event of the show presented by Guilty Boxing.

Ruiz, 27, of Los Mochis, Mexico, is 33-3-2 with 18 KOs; Lopez, 31, of San Fernando, Calif., is 16-3 with 6 KOs.

Ruiz -- who won his only bout this year, a 10-round unanimous decision against Eduardo Garcia on a Guilty card June 10 -- fought for the IBF bantamweight championship on July 31, 2004, losing to Rafael Marquez. Lopez was born in Mexico City and represented his homeland at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Tickets are $25 and $35 for the show, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Mardi Gras Ballroom.