Holyfield stops Rehman,
eyes Tyson-Lewis

Evander Holyfield claimed a technical split decision over Hasim Rahman in a heavyweight non-title bout Saturday, then immediately threw down a challenge to the winner of Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson championship fight next weekend.

Referee Tony Orlando stopped the bruising battle 1:40 into the eighth round after an ugly haematoma the size of an baseball, apparently caused by an accidental head butt, appeared above Rahman's left eye.

After being examined by ringside doctor Howard Taylor, Orlando waved Rahman to his corner then sent the decision to the judges who scored the fight 69-64, 66-67, 69-64 in favour of Holyfield.

"In the boxing business sometimes things happen," said Holyfield. "There's no sense being disappointed, especially when the decision goes your way.

"It was good that the referee stopped the fight, I've never seen anything like that.

"I tried not to play much attention to it but I just kept trying to hit it."

The victory is just Holyfield's second in the last six fights and improves the 39-year-old's record to 38-5-2.

But it puts the four-time former champion at the front of the line for another title shot with either Tyson or Lewis and closer to his goal of becoming the undisputed world champion for a fifth time before he retires.

"One of the guys who wins next week might want a big payday," smiled Holyfield, who earned a reported $5 million for the fight. "So I'll fight the winner of that fight or the winner of Ruiz-Johnson.

"But I'd rather fight Lennox or Tyson."

Right from the opening bell, Holyfield, 10 years Rahman's senior, set the pace.

Several times Holyfield, who will turn 40 in Octover, appeared to have Rahman in trouble, particularly in the seventh round ringing the crowd to their feet when he backed his opponent into the ropes and unleashed a barrage of punishing blows.

NEVER TROUBLED

But Rahman, (35-4) said later, that he was never in trouble and was confident he could have won the fight if he had not been the victim of what he described as deliberate head butts.

It is the second consecutive loss for Rahman (35-4), who was knocked out by Lewis last November in Las Vegas as the Briton reclaimed his WBC and IBF crowns.

"I'm very disappointed the way the fight ended," said Rahman. "He hit me with some vicious head butts right from the start he cut me with a head butt in the first or second round.

"I definitely don't feel I lost that fight.

"It's not over.

"We can do it again, I don't feel like he can beat me."

The fight heralded the return of professional boxing to the famed Boardwalk.

While Atlantic City had played host to many memorable title fights, the card was the first on the Jersey shores in four years while the Boardwalk Convention Centre underwent a $90 million renovation.

But with the Lewis-Tyson fight looming on the horizon, a non-title bout between Holyfield, the aging four-time champion and Rahman, a boxer of uncertain quality, held limited appeal with nearly a quarter of the 12,000 seats going unsold.

The fight attracted the usual allotment of celebrities, including O.J. Simpson, who was busy signing autographs and having his picture taken with boxing fans and Donald Trump, owner of the nearby Trump Casino.

In the featured heavyweight bout on the undercard, Nigeria's Friday Ahunanya won a split decision over Josue Blocus handing the Frenchman the first defeat of his professional career.

The loss drops the Parisian's record to 12-1 while Ahunanya improved to 17-1.