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Manhattan Transfer 3

"Bobby's Lobby" Bobby Goodman, Ted Allen and Kali

New York City, NY -

KALI Meehan weighed in at 237 pounds and Hasim (Rock) Rahman at 232 in Madison Square Garden theatre this afternoon, for Saturday's fight that puts the winner into multi-millions.

The World Boxing Council agreed to rate the winner No.1 heavyweight contender.
Vitali Klitschko, watch out in March!

Rahman already has number 1 rating in the World Boxing Association. And Kali Meehan went within a whisker of beating the World Boxing Organisation champion, Lamon Brewster in Las Vegas in September.

The extraordinary feat of Don King Productions in getting Don's men set to rumble in all three rival bodies was actually the groundwork of Bobby Goodman.
DKP director of boxing operations, Goodman travelled to the WBA convention in Yalta, East Europe, and to the WBC convention in Phuket, South East Asia, to lobby for the almost unanimous outcome free of the usual alphabet rivalries.

So the Kali who has fought for six-figure purses the last two times will be looking at millions of dollars per 47 minutes of action - if he can cope with his "Rendezvous with Destiny - Battle for Supremacy" against Hasim the Rock.

A small niggle of doubt: Alan Hopper, the energetic DKP media chief,
whispered in my ear: "Rahman just scaled the same weight he weighed the night he knocked out Lennox Lewis."

Rahman (pronounce Rockman) packs dynamite. But he does not punch fast. Kali is a better technician, plies a better jab, and can knock you. Even you, the Rock.

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Lamon Brewster says this is “a fight Kali can definitely win.” Only he can beat himself.
“He has to be confident from the beginning,” Lamon told me.
This delightful man flew from Los Angeles five hours to reach New York, he said it was tough travelling, and we had a good kid about the 20 hours from Melbourne to LA before the NY leg.
A German crew entered our confab, Bitte, a few words. Why was he not on the card? Lamon said he was given two months medical suspension after the championship fight with Kali Meehan.
He is about ready to train for a January, say February, comeback.

Before the two Euros intervened – and they were soon shifted by a security man who shooed us among the last ones out of the theatre – Brewster told me about that dramatic eighth round in Mandalay Bay: “Kali fooled me with the right hook. I put up my hand to block the expected straight right and he came round the side with a hook.

“The punch gave my [left] cheek a hairline fracture. He had punctured my [right] eardrum in the fourth round, and between the two hurts there was quite a buzz! I was dizzy against the ropes as Kali kept punching.”

Brewster heard Jay Nady, the referee, say, ‘Punch back or I’ll stop it,’ and the champion threw light underarm taps with either hand to indicate resistance. Only heart held him up till the bell rang. Brewster fought back strongly in round nine.

The doughty Brewster and Meehan are great friends-and-foes. The boxing kids should pick such models.

Lamon Brewster advises Kali to remember that looping right on Saturday night. .

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The previous evening a hand fell on my shoulder and I swung round to hear an imposing man say: "You're Australian."

Thell Torrence renewed our acquaintance, after crowded Kingsway gym the day before.
He trains Hasim Rahman. The black Gary Cooper is straight-backed, looks 48, claims to be 68. He trained 11 world champions, Ken Norton through Riddick Bowe, and handles Audley (A-Force) Harrison's Atlantic activities.
Thell was Eddie Futch's protege.He is president of Platinum Promotions in Las Vegas. An Aussie amateur heavyweight asked to come Stateside and be trained by Thell.

We chuckle over the paragraph in today's national paper, 'USA Today." Dan Rafael quotes Hasim Rahman's saying if he loses to Kali Meehan he'll retire.
Rafael adds, "We've heard that before, but this time we'll hold him to it."

Rahman has been with Torrence only a month and in great shape. Thell's forecast: "Kali Meehan is a nice man . . he is in for a hard night."

Assistant trainer Winky Walker scorns moderation. "We're going to knock Captain Kangaroo back to Australia," Winky tells me. "He's got a chin the size of a 25-inch TV.
"You've come all the way from Australia to see him. You'll be a Rahman fan when you leave!"

Walker is the Bundini Brown of our times. He tells me The early Rahman (pronounce him Rockman) went 7-3 amateur but got robbed in those amateur losses, to Baby Joe Mesi and Corrie Sanders no less.
A businessman with an eye gave the amateur nobody $100,000 to go pro. The Rockman won 22 straight but then got slack in training.
These days Rock has a wife and three children. Same as Kali. Motivation, said Winky.

Meehan told an interviewer on Don King’s show trailer: "When the kids ask, What's for dinner? and you have to reply, Only rice – Only noodles, then you fight to leave that behind."

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Robbie Peden is in town to watch his compatriot. Robbie hopes to hear that Nate Campbell title bout in Australia is sewn up soon. Paul Briggs will be here too, not only is he backing the Aus, but he’ll lead Team Meehan to the ring. Don King doesn’t miss a showman’s trick. Boxing’s magnificent Barnum.