With all due respect to 'The Cinderella Man', James Braddock, and 'Neon'
Leon Spinks, the underdog kings of the heavyweight division for this
generation are undoubtedly current heavyweight king Hasim Rahman and
James
'Buster' Douglas. Rahman, who defends his title against the man he won
it
from, Lennox Lewis, this Saturday, scored his upset fifth round KO in
April
of 2001. Eleven years earlier, Douglas shocked the world by stopping
the
seemingly unbeatable Mike Tyson in Tokyo. How would Rahman fare against
Douglas? That's what we're going to find out. Using the premier boxing
simulator, Title Fight 2001, MaxBoxing asks, What If Hasim Rahman fought
Buster Douglas?
We're scheduled for 12 rounds from Las Vegas, and your referee is Mills
Lane.
ROUND ONE: The bout doesn't get off to a promising start as both meet in
center ring and clinch. The first punch is thrown by Douglas, a missed
jab,
30 seconds in. Rahman responds with a crisp counter right that lands
flush.
Douglas spins away and tries a lazy lead right. Rahman steps in and
whips
an uppercut to the jaw of Douglas, sending him crashing to the canvas.
Douglas staggers to his feet after a nine count from referee Mills Lane.
Douglas tries to fight back weakly, but 'The Rock's' counters are
finding
their mark. After a barrage of shots, Buster takes a knee with less
than 30
seconds left in the round. He falls over while taking the count, and
the
fight is waved off at 2:50 of the first. Your winner, by first-round
knockout - Hasim "The Rock" Rahman.
100 Bout Results -- Using Title Fight 2001, Rahman-Douglas was autorun
100
times to get a better statistical average of what would have taken
place.
After 100 bouts, Rahman won 83 percent of the matchups, losing 15 percent, with 2 percent
ending
as draws. 44 of Rahman's wins were by decision, and 39 were by KO or
TKO,
including 13 KO's in five rounds or less, and 4 first round stoppages.
So it looks like 'The Rock' would have had little problem in dispatching
Douglas in cyberspace, but more importantly, can Rahman break the
underdog
curse in real-life? Braddock, Spinks, and Douglas all lost their titles
in
their first defenses after scoring huge upsets. Will Rahman be the
exception to the rule?
