by James Slater – As fans may or may not know, former heavyweight ruler Hasim “The Rock” Rahman returned to action this past Friday night, winning a 1st-round TKO over little-known 43-year-old Clinton Boldridge. Returning to action for the first time since his one-sided and disappointing 7th-round stoppage loss to Wladimir Klitschko, Rahman, now aged 37, improved to 46-7-2(37)..
Fans may well shrug their shoulders and say, “who cares?” when it comes to Rahman and his low-key comeback, but there is the possibility the man who once KO’d Lennox Lewis will engage in an interesting fight that is sure to attract attention next. The word is, as it has been for quite a while now, Rahman will fight a third fight with Samoan slugger David Tua later this year. Tua, who launched his own comeback in sensational style back in October – when he smashed Shane Cameron to painful defeat inside two impressive rounds – faces Friday Ahunanya this coming Wednesday; and if he wins (as most people feel he will) it could be Rahman III in June.
The fans are still interested – even fascinated – with Tua, 50-3-1(43); due to his quite incredible punching power. A massive fan favourite in his homeland of New Zealand, “The Tuaman” attracts many, many fans, both live and on T.V, when he fights. So even though Tua-Rahman III would not perhaps be a smash hit in the U.S in 2010 (it would have been a pretty big affair in America had it taken place in 2003 or 2004, soon after the draw the two men boxed in their second fight), there is a good chance New Zealand would embrace the fight if it takes place there in June.
And, you have to admit, there is a certain amount of interest in this heavyweight rivalry. Tua was unable to comprehensively defeat Rahman in either fight ( the first fight ending with a 10th-round KO for Tua, but the win coming after Tua had landed a late blow on Rahman at the end of the previous round), and his fans would pay to see if the 37-year-old can do so now. Also, as a comeback foe for Tua, Rahman is a creditable opponent (yes, I feel for sure Tua has more left today than does the slightly older man; and I feel Tua would KO Rahman in a fight-three).
Of course, any chance of this fight taking place anywhere will disappear if Ahunanya can cause the upset on Wednesday, when he meets Tua in a scheduled 12-rounder (the bout will contest the WBO Oriental title as well as the WBO Asia Pacific belt that currently belongs to Tua). But if the powerhouse who some still see as a future heavyweight champion takes care of business, against Friday “The 13th,” we could see Tua tangle once again with “The Rock in the summer.”