By Doug Fischer
By the time you read this column I’ll either be on my way to Sisley Italian Kitchen or I’ll already be at the fine Sherman Oaks-based restaurant to take notes on what Hasim Rahman and James Toney have to say about their July 16th rematch that will take place at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
Yes, the big men with big mouths will do it again, on a Fox Sports Net-televised show entitled “Last Chance” by the bout’s promoters (Goossen Tutor, Don King Productions and Top Rank). Why are they fighting a rematch? I have no idea. I certainly didn’t ask for it and it’s not like the majority draw they fought to in April of 2006 was a classic confrontation, but the food at Sisley is very good and both former champions have engaging personalities and have been known to provide a funny quote or two in the past. So what the heck? I’m going to be there.
But I’ve got to be honest; I don’t know where the veterans hope to go after engaging in this rematch.
Toney, who turns 40 in August, is coming off a one-year suspension after testing positive for steroids in his last fight, a lack-luster split decision over Danny Batchelder last May. The “FatMan”, as I affectionately call Toney, has not notched an official victory over a respected heavyweight since his ninth-round stoppage of Evander Holyfield in his initial foray into the heavyweight division in October of 2003.
Rahman, who is 35, has stayed busy since getting knocked out by huge underdog Oleg Maskaev in April of 2006, but the four fights he engaged in last year were against second-tier fighters or journeyman, and the “Rock”, who sometimes resembled a boulder, struggled against the likes of Taurus Sykes and Zuri Lawrence. And yet, the Las Vegas-based Baltimore native is ranked no. 3 by IBF and no. 4 by the WBC, which begs the question: why is he fighting Toney, who isn’t ranked at all?
I guess that’s one of the questions I’ll ask Rahman.
I’m pretty sure the former champ, who is one of the more intelligent and articulate active boxers in the sport, will reply with a good answer; and I’m also fairly certain the name recognition that he and Toney will bring to the “Best Damn Sports Show Period” broadcast will yield solid ratings. Matter of fact, I’m not ruling out the possibility that the two veterans put on an entertaining scrap.
But I’m still not very excited about this fight. I guess it’s because I know that both fighters are at or near the ends of their careers.
I’m more interested in the young fighters who are the future of the sport. I think the future of the heavyweight division, at least as far as U.S.-born representatives are concerned, will come from the winner of next Saturday’s showdown between undefeated prospects Chris Arreola and Chazz Witherspoon; not the Rahman-Toney rematch.
Arreola, a Los Angeles-born Riverside resident who holds an impressive 23-0 (21) record, met the local boxing press with his promoter Dan Goossen at Sisley three weeks ago (and your intrepid fight scribe was there… hey, I’m serious, the food is really excellent.)
Aside from tanking up on chicken parmesan, sweet Italian sausage, and absolutely decadent chocolate desserts, I learned that the 27-year-old slugger has been training hard in Riverside under the guidance of his trainer Henry Ramirez for what he and Goossen figure to be the most important bout of his four-and-half-year career.
“It’s certainly the highest level fight of Chris’s career,” Goossen acknowledged to the media. “Witherspoon is well respected, which we like.”
Goossen took a chance on signing Arreola, a chubby Mexican-American heavyweight whose only claim to promise was winning the 2001 national Golden Gloves tournament in the 178-pound division, and the veteran promoter wasted little time in testing the heavy handed fighter by putting him in with dangerous journeyman Dominic Jenkins in ‘05, unbeaten hopeful Damian Wills in ’06, and athletic former amateur standout Malcolm Tann last year.
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