Atlantic City, N.J. – There was always some heat bubbling under the surface of the possible match between WBC heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko and Hasim Rahman. Now that the bout is official, all that heat is spewing, like an erupting volcano.
The two men brought their promotional tour to Caesar’s Palace on Saturday to hype their 12-round HBO pay-per-view match Nov. 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Rahman believes Klitschko was faking the injuries, including back surgery, that forced the fight to be postponed three times. Klitschko was angered by Rahman’s insinuation that the champ was a coward and scared to face him.
“I’m a little bit upset,” Klitschko said. “He’s a sportsman and he should understand better than anybody (about injuries).”
Later he added: “Hasim Rahman says I’m a liar. I’m more than sure he’s the champion of the world in talking.”
When Klitschko, a heavyweight from Ukraine who made his mark in Germany and now lives in Los Angeles, says he is upset, it loses some of the steam because his English is literal and measured. He is not a trash-talker, which is Rahman’s forte.
Klitschko said he is willing to show his back scar and a report from the doctor as to the fact that he had surgery. Rahman doesn’t want to see the scar or the report. He just likes getting under Klitschko’s skin, much the way that he did to Lennox Lewis before he fought Lewis the first time in 2001. Rahman KO’d Lewis in the fifth round, but lost the title by KO in the rematch seven months later.
Klitschko calls this a fight for the real heavyweight championship because he views Rahman as the strongest of the contenders out there.
But Klitschko hasn’t fought since he beat Danny Williams last December. This is the second major injury that he has had to come back from in his career. He tore his rotator cuff in a loss to Chris Byrd back in 2000. Klitschko said he does not expect to experience ring rust.
