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Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman

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X-Plosive
Date13 December 2008
VenueSAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany
Title(s) on the lineIBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Ukraine Wladimir Klitschko United States Hasim Rahman
Nickname "Dr. Steelhammer" "The Rock"
Hometown Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Pre-fight record 51–3 (44 KO) 45–6–2 (1) (36 KO)
Age 32 years, 8 months 36 years, 1 month
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 245 lb (111 kg) 255 lb (116 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition IBF, WBO and IBO
Heavyweight Champion
The Ring
No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight
IBF
No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight
WBO
No. 8 Ranked Heavyweight
Former unified heavyweight champion
Result
Klitschko defeated Rahman by 7th round TKO

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman, billed as "X-Plosive", was a professional boxing match contested on 13 December 2008 for the IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championship.[1]

Background

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After unifying the IBF & WBO title by defeating Sultan Ibragimov, Wladimir Klitschko made one title defence against WBO mandatory challenger Tony Thompson before agreeing to face his IBF mandatory Alexander Povetkin. In October 2008 Povetkin withdrew with a leg injury, and with the second and third ranked contenders Alexander Dimitrenko and Chris Arreola unavailable, Klitschko agreed to face former unified champion and fourth ranked IBF contender Hasim Rahman.[2][3][4]

Before agreeing to face Klitschko, Rahman had won four of his five fights since losing his WBC title in a close fight to Oleg Maskaev, the fifth was a no contest with James Toney. He was the NABF continental champion, having defeated Zuri Lawrence for the title in 2007, and was retroactively ranked the world's 9th best heavyweight that year by BoxRec.[5] He was also ranked within the top ten by both the IBF and WBO, and 12th by the WBC. He was aiming to join Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, and Lennox Lewis as the only boxers ever to win a heavyweight title on three or more occasions.

On the undercard, former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe fought what would turn out to be the final fight of his career, beating journeyman Gene Pukall by an 8-round unanimous decision.

The fight

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Klitschko in action against Rahman

Klitschko dominated the fight winning every round on the scorecards (two judges had it 60-53, the third scored it 60-47), scoring a knockdown the 6th round with a series of jabs followed by a right hand to the chin of Rahman who survived before referee Tony Weeks ended the fight in the seventh round. According to CompuBox Klitschko landed 178 punches with 48% accuracy, against Rahman's 30 punches with 14% accuracy.[6]

Aftermath

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After his victory, Klitschko agreed to face former unified cruiserweight champion David Haye in Germany in June 2009, however, Haye pulled out and was replaced by the WBA "Champion In recess" Ruslan Chagaev.

Rahman would spend 15 months out of the ring after this fight before returning to knockout his next five opponents before losing in two rounds to Povetkin. He would retire after a decision loss to the unknown Anthony Nansen in June 2014.

Undercard

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Confirmed bouts:[7]

Winner Loser Weight division/title belt(s) disputed Result
United States Cornelius Bundrage Russia Zaurbek Baysangurov Super Welterweight (12 rounds) 5th-round TKO.
Germany Wilhelm Fischer Latvia Edgars Kalnars Heavyweight (8 rounds) 4th-round KO.
United States Riddick Bowe Germany Gene Pukall Heavyweight (8 rounds) Unanimous decision.
Germany Robin Krasniqi Germany Lars Buchholz Light Heavyweight (6 rounds) Unanimous decision.
Croatia Mario Preskar Germany Hans-Joerg Blasko Heavyweight (8 rounds) 3rd round RTD.
Albania Fatjon Murati Austria Omar Jatta Light Heavyweight (4 rounds) Unanimous decision.

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 Canada TSN
 Germany RTL
 Hungary Sport 1
 Russia RTR Sport
 Ukraine Inter
 United Kingdom Setanta Sports[8]
 United States HBO

References

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  1. ^ "Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman - BoxRec". boxrec.com.
  2. ^ "Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman - BoxRec". boxrec.com.
  3. ^ Claudio, EJ. "My Thoughts On Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman".
  4. ^ "Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman is Being Explored".
  5. ^ BoxRec's Annual Ratings: Heavyweight Annuals. BoxRec. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  6. ^ agencies, Telegraph staff and. "Vladimir Klitschko KO's Hasim Rahman". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  7. ^ "BoxRec - event". boxrec.com.
  8. ^ Gareth A Davies (9 December 2008). "David Haye on course for a clash with Klitschko – Wladimir or Vitali". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
Preceded by Wladimir Klitschko's bouts
13 December 2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by Hasim Rahman's bouts
13 December 2008
Succeeded by
vs. Clinton Boldridge