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Rahman beats Barrett; Mayorga wins title in unanimous decision
MON August 15 - Hasim Rahman scored a unanimous decision over Monte Barrett to earn the interim WBC heavyweight title Saturday night at the United Center.
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 defense 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 defense 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. However, in November of 2001, Lewis rebounded with a knockout to regain his titles.
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.
Mayorga (27-5-1) knocked down Piccirillo (44-3) three times in the bout and the Italian slipped to the canvas in the 12th round, solidifying Mayorga's reign as the new titleholder. Mayorga won by scores of 117-108, 117-110 and 120-105.
Mayorga knocked down his opponent twice in the second round, first with a punch to the top of the head. Piccirillo then hit the canvas with just under one minute left in the second round. He was floored again in the fourth following a right hand to the side of his head.
Next up for Mayorga could be the winner of next Saturday night's bout between Fernando Vargas and Javier Castillejo.
Collazo, of Brooklyn, NY, moved his record to 26-1 with 12 knockouts, while the 34-year-old Gonzalez dropped to 49-5-1.
The 24-year-old Collazo connected well with shots to the body and especially to the face of his opponent. Gonzalez had blood seeping near his left eye in the opening round and Collazo continued to pound away. He had Gonzalez in the corner in the fourth round and with one second into the eighth round, Gonzalez' cornerman threw in the towel.
Hometown favorite Oliver McCall, a former heavyweight champion, used a devastating left uppercut to finish off Poland's Przemyslaw Saleta in the fourth round.
The 40-year-old McCall moved his record to 45-8 with 31 knockouts. He was the aggressor for all four rounds and landing a solid uppercut that finished off his opponent with 20 seconds left in the round.
Following a win over Henry Akinwande on November 17, 2001, McCall was inactive for all of 2002. However, he has won six of his seven bouts since then.
McCall had beaten Lewis and Larry Holmes in WBC heavyweight title bouts in 1994 and '95, but suffered a TKO defeat to Lewis in February of 1997 in another championship fight.
McCall, who was born in Chicago, wasn't even supposed to be on Saturday night's card. However, Andrew Golota withdrew due to a cut he suffered while sparring.
Saleta fell to 42-7.
Garcia (25-1) won by scores on 117-110, 117-110 and 118-108 to defeat Messi (28-6-1).
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