By Mitch Abramson
Both Barrett and Rahman are graying veterans who have risen through the ranks together, shared the same promoter and managers, and are now meeting in a career-defining fight.”We're friends,” Barrett said from his training camp in the Poconos. “My family and his family are friends, but this is business, and I've worked too hard to let friendship get in the way (of becoming heavyweight champion).”Barrett (31-3, 17 KO's) and Rahman (40-5-1, 33 KO's) are fighting at the United Center in Chicago for a title under strange circumstances. Current WBC champion Vitali Klitschko hasn't fought since Dec. 11, and the WBC allowed Rahman, rated No. 1 in the division and Barrett, No. 2, a chance to fight for an interim version of the title with the understanding that the winner will face Klitschko for the real belt. If Barrett, 34, were to win and then defeat Klitschko, he would make an unlikely heavyweight champion. Barrett, a resident of Jamaica, started his career 21-0 but lost a split decision in 1999 to Lance Whitaker. The two were close friends from the amateurs, and Barrett freely admits that he didn't take Whitaker seriously as a fighter.”I didn't train as hard as I should have, and he did,” Barrett said. “That fight woke me up and taught me to take every fighter seriously.”Barrett rebounded from the loss and won three straight matches, but he ran into a wall when he was mowed down by Vitali's younger brother, Wladimir, getting dropped five times before the fight was stopped in the seventh round.Barrett salvaged his career with an impressive performance against Dominick Guinn, earning a split decision and winning over a lot of fans who had given up on him. He is back training with Harold Knight after a one-bout hiatus.”I'm going to knock Rahman out,” Barrett said. “If he wants to bang, we can bang. I do better against aggressive fighters anyway. I am totally focused on him right now.”Rahman and Barrett share the same promoter in Don King, and before this fight, they were both managed by Stan Hoffman and Steve Nelson. Barrett is now self- managed.”I don't need someone to tell me the difference between one and two million,” Barrett said. “Besides, I have an attorney and Don King.”Barrett and Rahman are also two of the flashiest personalities in the sport, and if there was a heavyweight championship for talking, one of them would surely have it.”Yah, we can go back and forth,” he said. “He's definitely one of the personalities in boxing, but come August 13, it's going to be Rahman-RIP: rest in pieces.”Welterweight Chris Smith left Washington, D.C. two weeks ago with a bitter taste in his mouth. In a fight between come-backing fighters, Smith lost a unanimous decision to Sharmba Mitchell (56-4, 30 KO's) on the undercard of Mike Tyson's fight. The bout ended because of an accidental head butt 16 seconds into the fifth round, and Mitchell, a resident of Washington, was awarded a 48-47, 49-46 and 50-45 decision at the MCI Center June 11.”He was finished when the fight was stopped,” said Smith, who attended August Martin HS. “It was a wrap. Everyone knew what was coming. The man was broken. In the first couple of rounds he was landing these pitty-pat punches and the crowd was going crazy, but in the third, I started to open up, and I could feel him breaking down mentally. I landed four straight right hands in the fourth round, and I felt like when the head-but happened, he was trying to get out of the fight.”Both fighters were appearing for the first time after losing badly. Smith, who lives in Jamaica, faltered against David Estrada January 21 when he was stopped in the 11th round. Smith, 30, explained after the fight that he thought he had over-trained. The morning of the match he took a jog and felt dehydrated.Mitchell, a former junior welterweight champion, was dropped four times against Kostya Tszyu last November before the bout was stopped, and he personally selected Smith (19-2-1, 12 KO's) to make his come-back.Mitchell stated in the ring following the match that he would give Smith a rematch, but that was just talk. Smith noticed leading up to the fight that his name was hardly brought up by the media. When they did, one newspaper referred to him as “Greg Smith” and another reported that Sharmba Mitchell was fighting but left out his opponent. Odd things happen when Mike Tyson is boxing.Bayside's Vinny Maddalone (24-2, 17 KO's) stopped Dennis McKinney (26-32-1, 13 KO's) at 2:06 of the fourth round Saturday at the FedEx Forum in Memphis on the undercard of Antonio Tarver and Glenn Johnson. It was the second time Maddalone fought McKinney. In 2003, he won a split decision, and he credited his new trainer, Al Certo with making him a more relaxed fighter. Maddalone, who was a candidate to fight Tyson June 11, has been lobbying Brian Minto for a rematch of their thrilling fight last July that ended with Maddalone getting knocked out in the 10th round. The two have spoken by phone and were supposed to fight on June 10 but Minto balked at the money being offered. Maddalone's promoter, Joe DeGuardia is trying to make the fight sometime in August or September.Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
