By Nate Anderson: According to boxingtalk, former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (45-6-2, 36 KOs) will be fighting a title elimination bout on July 16th, which will be shown live on ESPN. Both Rahman and Toney are getting up there in age, with Rahman now 35 and Toney a ripe 39, so this may turn out to be a last ditch attempt for either of them to get a title shot. However, you can never say never and as bad as the current heavyweight scene is, even the loser may eventually find his way back into a title shot if only because of the lack of talent and big named fighters in the division.
Toney, 39, previously faced Rahman in March 2006, fighting for Rahman’s then WBC heavyweight title, with the fight turning out to be a controversial draw that left both fighters unsatisfied. Most people felt that Rahman had won the fight given his superior work rate during the fight. However, it was all for naught as the fight was ultimately ruled a 12-round draw. Rahman would turn around and his heavyweight title some five months later in a 12th round TKO loss to Oleg Maskaev in August 2006. Since that time, Rahman has beaten a string of mostly 3nd tier fighters, Taurus Sykes, Dicky Ryan, Cerrone Fox and most recently Zuri Lawrence, leaving many people to wonder when Rahman would eventually step it up against top level opposition once again.