Rahman earns unanimous decision over Barrett
Last Updated: Sunday, August 14, 2005 | 2:04 AM ET
CBC Sports
Rahman, who won by scores of 118-110 on two of the scorecards and 116-112 on the other, is now set to face Vitali Klitschko to settle the WBC belt. That bout is expected to take place by the end of this year.
The fight was the headliner of four title bouts Saturday night.
Ricardo Mayorga captured the vacant WBC super welterweight championship with a 12-round unanimous decision over Michele Piccirillo.
Luis Collazo's first defence of his WBA welterweight title was a success, as he scored an eighth-round technical knockout of Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
Alejandro Garcia won a unanimous decision over Luca Messi to capture the WBA light middleweight title.
Rahman and Barrett are good friends outside the ring, but in it Saturday night the two went toe-to-toe in the latter rounds, and when the fight was finished Barrett had a huge welt above his left eye.
The 32-year-old Rahman (41-5-1) established control early in the fight and sent Barrett to the ropes with a hard right in the fourth. An overhand right and short left kept Barrett on his defence in the next round.
The swelling above Barrett's (31-4) eye was more evident in the eighth round, but he landed a solid left hook to remain in the fight. In fact, Rahman could barely stay on his feet in the final round.
It was just over four years ago that Rahman shocked Lennox Lewis in South Africa, taking two major heavyweight belts. Lewis rebounded with a knockout to regain his titles in November 2001.
That marked the start of three defeats in a four-fight span for Rahman, but he's made his way back to a shot for another belt by winning six straight fights.
with files from Sports Network
