Rahman had his ups and downs but basically had a Baltimore gangsta mentality.. arguably V. Klitscho got caught in a long staredown before their scheduled fight that caused Klit to cancel the fight a week later...how would they(Rahman and Tyson) match up? As a bonus, would Rahman have beaten Klit had the fight been held?GS
I assume we're talking late 2001? In that case, allot depends on Tyson's weight, but assuming he got himself in much better shape than the Neilson fight he'd have a fair chance though I'd still make him slight underdog. Obviously if he wins it's in the first 3 rounds tops. After that, it's all downhill. Pretty much a pick'em. Tyson KO 3/Rahman TKO 9. Prime Tyson beats Rahman very onesidedly, by KO.
Unless you are talking about right now.. Tyson murders hm quick and imm not sure he wouldn't right now too
I think Rahman would last about 5 rounds by using the jab and grab but yeah, he'd get taken out brutally at some point.
I wouldnt give him five minutes, honestly. Rahman was an AWFUL fighter --- I cannot stress it enough. I suppose in 2001-02 its close, however.
"Awfuler" fighters were able to utilize those tactics and survive longer against Tyson. I'm not saying it's competitive, just that Rahman has the size and abilities to stink it out for a while.
Lesser guys, perhaps, but dumber and less durable ones? Rahman had a decent jab, a good, meaty right hand (not outstanding, the way Lewis fans like to paint it), and that was IT. A fighter like that might last a few rounds once in a while, but generally, this is a two-round fight. The young Tyson would slip that left (Rahman had an OK jab but he was notoriously lazy with it) and cripple him.
Dunno about AWFUL. Rahman was nothing special outside of his miracle night against Lewis, but he was a decent bottom of the top ten type. If I had to make a list of every heavyweight I have ever seen and I had to rank them in order from "most awful" to "best ever"...I suspect I would have quite a few names on the list before I got to Rahman.
Even in 2001 I'd have favored Mike. Rockhead's chin was shit. Before Lewis beat what was left out of Mike (which wasnt much), he still had a good enough chin to come thorugh Rockhead's best punches, and put him away within 6. Prime for prime, obvioulsy its not really worth discussing. Mike KO 2.
Douglas had a pedigree for the fight game and for one night only, he was consistently educated with his fantastic jab. Rahman never had an educated jab; more over, he hardly had a boxing educated skill set considering his extremely limited amateur background. IMHO, he did not stand a chance against a prime Mike Tyson.
