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Four more Heavyweight Contenders |
The "Battle
for Supremacy" heavyweights at
Madison Square Garden, Nov. 13
Part 2
HASIM
"The Rock" RAHMAN
Former WBC/WBA Champion
Baltimore, Md.
39-5-1 (32 KOs)
Training Site: Pat
Barry's Gym in Las Vegas
New Trainer: Thell
Torrence, who was mentored by Eddie Futch and
has
trained Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe,
Audley "A-Force" Harrision, Ken Norton
and others.
'Old School'
Attitude: Known for his impatience
with fighters who lack
commitment after being schooled by the legendary
Eddie Futch, Torrence
likes what he sees in Rahman after working with
the former heavyweight champion for just three
weeks. "I agreed to work with him because
he was willing to work within my program. From
the very beginning he has been honest with me
telling me where he's been, where he is now
and where he wants to go."
"Rahman's personality
sometimes takes me back to my early days with
Riddick Bowe because he is a good-natured, funny
fellow. He's also been giving me a great effort
every day.
"I thought Meehan
won his fight with Brewster," Rahman said.
"I told Don
to get me the guy who really beat Brewster.
He's a nice guy and showed his
friendship with Brewster. He rocked Lamon to
sleep like a baby. He won't
do that to me. I will be ready to fight this
fight and every other fight I have until I am
once again champion of the world."
vs.
KALI
"Checkmate" MEEHAN
WBO/IBF Asia Pacific Champion
Wyongah, Australia
29-2 (23 KOs)
Training Site: Sydney,
Australia.
Trainer: "Magic"
Mark Janssen. Meehan's recent successes on the
world
stage can be attributed in large measure to
his trainer since 2003,
"Magic" Mark Janssen, who retired
as an undefeated Australian middleweight ranked
in the world top five, before becoming a trainer.
Janssen's steady hand has guided Meehan to new
heights.
Boxer Training with Aussie
Rugby Squad? Meehan has taken up training at
the Parramatta Rugby League Team Training Facility
in Sydney where he is
currently in two-a-day workouts: He runs sprint
sessions from 6 a.m. to 7
a.m., lifts weights from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and
conducts training and
sparring sessions from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. when
the Rugby players aren't using the facility.
The Parramatta players have been fascinated
by Meehan's
training sessions and have become fans of the
heavyweight, and Meehan is a fan of the team
as well. Meehan's near-defeat of WBO heavyweight
champion "Relentless"
Lamon Brewster on Sept. 4 has made him a sensation
down under. He calls himself "Australasian"
to recognize his birthplace of New Zealand and
his home of Australia.
"To be here fighting
on this show is so great," Meehan said.
"When I was a
little boy, I wanted to fight. Then as my career
progressed, I wanted to
fight in America. Now to be fighting at Madison
Square Garden, and also
fighting with the best heavyweights of my era,
is something I would never
imagine could happen."
EVANDER
"The Real Deal" HOLYFIELD
Four-Time World Heavyweight Champion
Atlanta, Ga.
38-7-2 (25 KOs)
Training Site: Houston,
Texas
Trainer: Ronnie Shields,
who trains Juan Diaz, Ivan Hernandez, Juan
Lazcano and Dominick Guinn and has trained "Iron"
Mike Tyson, Vernon "The Viper" Forrest,
Jessie James Leija, Andrew Golota, Pernell "Sweet
Pea" Whitaker, Arturo Gatti and others.
Holyfield took a break from
training after his loss to James "Lights
Out"
Toney and will not have been in a fight for
over a year when he enters the
ring on Nov. 13 and will be 42 years old.
Don King said about Holyfield,
"He's an old man just rolling like a
river."
"This is the first
step I have to take, looking over my past fights,"
Holyfield said. " I have made some adjustments
and realized I have to be
totally dedicated and ready to fight.
"I couldn't get
another fight. I wanted a championship but that
didn't
happen. I couldn't let a whole year go by (October
2003 was his last
fight) so I had to take this fight.
"The big thing
was to get a championship fight but unfortunately
it didn't
happen that way. So instead of letting a whole
year go by without no
competition at all, I think that would have
hindered me. So more than
anything I had to go back to how I usually think.
I can't be so concerned
about getting a championship opportunity. I
have to be more concerned
about winning it when I get it. So I have to
prepare myself so whenever the time will come
I'll get it and win it.
"It's not like
I had a big problem with Chris Byrd. It's that
at that time
my health wasn't the best that it could have
been.
"I think that
anytime I go into the ring, people know that
I'm not going
in there boasting that I'm better than anybody.
They know that I'm going in
there for a goal. The thing is not to fight
just to fight. I have a goal
to become heavyweight champion of the world.
It's not because I need money; it's not because
I have a bad attitude and I can't do nothing
about it.
It's just the fact that I have to finish the
right way. The finish is to be
heavyweight champion of the world."
"The big thing
is, I'm in this game because I believe I can
win it, not
because of the condition that the fighters are
in or because of the
competition. I always felt that I was the better
fighter than the fighters that were fighting.
I have a passion for the
game. I go to sleep and wake up still wanting
to
fight. I've never been a person who cares what
anyone else says. If that
was the case, I'd still be in the ghetto. You're
only old when they throw
dirt on you.
"Being undisputed
champion is something that's been there since
1992 when I lost to Riddick Bowe. There have
been times to step away, but my goal has always
been to be undisputed champion. The importance
is to be the best. If I only get one title,
it's only one-third. There are still two other
people with titles who think they're the best.
The reality is you have to have
all three belts. Then no one can say they're
better than you."
vs.
LARRY
"The Legend" DONALD
Former NABO Heavyweight Champion
Cincinnati, Ohio
41-3-2 (24 KOs)
Training Site: King
Training Camp in Orwell, Ohio
New trainer: Colin
Morgan, who was born in Georgetown, Guyana,
and now
lives in New York City and also trains WBC cruiserweight
champion Wayne
"Big Truck" Braithwaite. Morgan has
also trained Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis
early in his career, Andrew Murray, Gary St.
Claire, Tiger Martinez, Bert Cooper and others.
He is considered by many to be one of the more
under-rated trainers in boxing.
"Larry is willing
to learn and he is a very hard worker,"
Morgan said.
"He has relied too much on his natural
abilities, which are huge.
"I'm teaching
Larry that if he wants to go to the next step,
he must
develop his natural killer instincts and punch
properly by sitting better on his
punches to get more snap, which will result
in knockouts. You'll see the
difference when he steps into the ring with
Evander."
"Working with
Colin has been great," Donald said, "Believe
me, my whole body has been feeling it, too.
"It's always good
to fight a Hall of Famer," Donald said
of Holyfield. "A
lot of people may think he don't have it anymore
but he do. When he comes to fight, he comes
to fight. Anybody who goes in with him and expects
him to lay down has a problem.
"I'm not disappointed
in my career. All around I've had a beautiful
career.
A couple of fights I may have fallen short but
you can't fall apart.
That's when you have to be at your best. I feel
I should have gotten more
opportunities, but everybody isn't willing to
step in the ring with me the
way Holyfield is. He never ducks and dodges
nobody. Why would he start
now?
"Holyfield has
a goal, and I have a goal, and we both can't
reach 'em. His is to become five-time heavyweight
champion. I'm just striving to be
champion. That's what's going to make our fight
magnificent. This is a
title eliminator.
"It's very rare
to get all those top-notch fighters on one card.
This is
going to be beautiful. I'm excited to be part
of it. For me, what this
fight's all about is opportunity. Nothing will
stop me and I am ready to
rumble."
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