It's no secret that Kushner was negotiating with HBO (Lewis rematch) and Showtime (Tyson) after Rahman beat Lewis for the title back in '01. We all know how it turned out... but lets just say Rahman went to Showtime and fought Tyson. What do you think would have happened, and how would it have changed heavyweight history?
I think Rahman could have beaten Mike, I think it would have done him a lot of good financially and historically. I'm not sure Mike would have had the legs or the gas-tank to get Rahman out of there. It could have gone either way, sure, but Rahman would be my favourite. Instead, he wound up a parody. An unconscious parody, with his one big win unfairly reduced to "one hit wonder" status by revisionist writers who were more swayed by how thick Rock was and how he lost the rematch. How would it have changed history? Hard to say. Maybe he gets brave and fights Vitali and Vitali winds up coming into the Lewis fight as Champ. Or maybe he gets even braver and rematches Lewis and winds up out cold anyways. Maybe Rahman beats Mike and Mike takes on Vitali as a "comeback fight", that would have been fun.
Worst thing that happened to Tyson was Desiree Washington. Fighting Holyfield at tha time was a monumental blunder..and I'm not just saying that with the benefit of hindsight. Evander was a no win situation. He had recently lost a trilogy to Bowe, being KO'd in the last fight and had been defeated by Moorer. Tyson gained nothing by beating him. What made it worse is that Evander is a live guy against anyone by virtue of his heart, chin, strength, speed, stamina and boxing ability. I felt at the time that it was a bad move for Tyson and it was proven.
not sure how legal matters would've escalated since lewis wouldn't have gone away w/o a rematch, but either way, it would've been funny had rahman gone onto knock tyson out and never gave lewis that rematch.
He'd be remembered as a bona-fide legend, which was one one end of the extreme, the other end being his current status as rent-a-champ. The truth is somewhere in between, the Maskaev fights were close, especially the 2nd one, he did beat Lewis fair and square and with a 1 punch KO at that, and he was jobbed in the first Tua fight. Rahman was an OK heavyweight. Not great, not a chump, somewhere in between.
Too bad Hasim had what Larry Holmes would call "Cornflakes for Brains". If Hasim spent more time hitting the heavy bag than the duffel bag, he could have done better for himself.ointlaugh:
This is the exact kind of post you're infamous for making. You should be ashamed. Quick...tell us the outcome of Louis - Conn I and II. All jokes aside, this is shameful. Out of all the "look at me, I've always been on the right side of history" posts...this is possibly the worst.
yup indeed. rahman at one point was slated to defend his belt vs. brian nielson in china or something before lewis and his legal team intervened. imagine if he'd beaten nielson, tyson, rematched tua and retired.
Id slightly favour Rahman (who I am and always have been a huge detractor of as a boxer), Tyson was THAT faded by then. Whoever won, Lewis would certainly have gotten his mits on the man with the belt (as he got both back-to-back in reality) and battered them promptly. Rahman was an awful fighter, with a list of flaws as long as one of his arms.
rahman is a buffoon. don king bamboozled him out of what wouldve been tens of millions. i guess growing up in baltimore means if someone flashes a million cash in your face you sign whatever he asks
He certainly blew it in terms of cashing in on his moment. A mediocre boxer, and so it would seem, a similarly-inept businessman. Shouldve stuck with swimming.
That's been King's deal for over 30 years now. The suitcase full of bills is, in his mind, always more appealing than millions on paper to poor folks. The worst part is how Rahman fell for it after the scam had been well known for years.
I would have favored tyson to beat rahman without question. I think he could have stopped him. Going by the previous fights they both had. Rahman looked very shitty against lennox, winning with a lucky shot. Tyson looked determined and quite sharp, to a degree, against golota. I'm not sure it would have changed the course of history too much, tbh.
Oh...nothing, ahem....nothing at all. I'm sure the inability to tell the difference between $200,000 and $1,000,000 is a disability which afflicts many people. Not funny. Not funny.
