Rahman holds on to WBC belt with a draw

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Hasim Rahman remained the WBC heavyweight champion Saturday night without beating James Toney.

Rahman, handed the crown when Vitali Klitschko retired last year, fought Toney to a draw, a verdict booed by many fans in the crowd. So the 33-year-old Rahman has never actually won the belt in the ring.

It was one of the closest fights imaginable, with both boxers missing more than they connected, and with few flurries. Toney did his best work with right leads, including two massive ones late in the bout. But he also missed a handful of those punches, looking foolish as he swiped the air.

Rahman carried the action in the final round after Toney landed two early punches. By the end of the 12th, Rahman was holding his hands in the air, thinking he’d won.

The judges saw otherwise – sort of.

Nobuaki Uratani and Tom Kaczmarek each had it 114-114, while John Stewart saw a Rahman rout, 117-111. The Associated Press scored it 114-113 for Rahman.

For most of the bout, Rahman pressed the action. But Toney wasn’t uncomfortable against the ropes, either. And he did cut Rahman over the left eye in the eighth.

Rahman took the WBC and IBF titles from Lennox Lewis with a stunning fifth-round knockout five years ago. But Lewis got serious about training and knocked out Rahman in the rematch.

Since that defeat, Rahman toiled on the fringes of the division, but his perseverance paid off last year when Klitschko retired. The WBC gave its belt to Rahman, and Saturday was his first defense.

Toney owned a title as recently as last April when he outpointed John Ruiz for the WBA crown. But he held it for less than two weeks after testing positive for steroids. The former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champ worked his way back from that ignominy, albeit by winning just once, over Dominic Gunn in October.

Rahman, from Baltimore, threw 933 punches and landed 279, while Toney threw 623 and landed 263. Rahman, who weighed in at 238 pounds, is 44-5-2. Toney (237 pounds) is 69-4-3.

The other heavyweight crowns are held by Chris Byrd (IBF), Nikolay Valuev (WBA) and Lamon Brewster (WBO). It’s been a jumbled division since Lewis retired two years ago, and the Rahman-Toney fight didn’t do anything to clarify it.