CNNSI.com - Boxing - Holyfield tops Rahman on 8th-round split technical decision

Butt seriously...

Holyfield gets split technical decision after headbutt

Posted: Saturday June 01, 2002 11:03 PM
Updated: Sunday June 02, 2002 3:44 AM

A hematoma above Hasim Rahman's left eye forced the ref to go to the judges' scorecards during the eighth round. Al Bello/Getty Images

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Evander Holyfield is still every bit a warrior at age 39. He's also back in the heavyweight picture, with a little help from his hard head.

Holyfield used his hands and head to fight his way back into title contention Saturday night, winning a technical decision against Hasim Rahman after swelling on the side of Rahman's forehead grew to the size of a baseball in the eighth round.

Two unintentional head butts caused the swelling, but Holyfield got in more than his share of punches, too, showing glimpses of the skills that made him a four-time heavyweight champion.

The end of the fight was anticlimactic, coming at 1:40 of the eighth round on the recommendation of the ring doctor. Even so, Holyfield showed he has enough left to beat a man who was heavyweight champion only seven months ago and is 10 years younger.

"Don't tell me what God can't do," Holyfield said. "Don't tell me he can't revive a 39-year-old."

Holyfield won six of the first seven rounds on two ringside scorecards -- although a third judge inexplicably had Rahman ahead -- and landed the bigger and better punches in a no-holds-barred fight in which both boxers refused to back up.

WebMD definition of hematoma

(he´´mah-to´mah) pl. hematomas. A localized collection of extravasated blood, usually clotted, in an organ, space, or tissue; contusions (bruises) and black eyes are familiar forms that are seldom serious. Hematomas can occur almost anywhere on the body; they are almost always present with a fracture and are especially serious when they occur inside the skull, where they may produce local pressure on the brain. In minor injuries the blood is absorbed unless infection develops.

CRANIAL HEMATOMA. The two most common kinds of cranial hematomas are epidural and subdural. The word dural refers to the dura mater. Epidural hematoma occurs above the dura mater, between it and the skull. It is most often caused by a heavy blow to the head that damages the upper surface of the dura mater. Blood seeps into the surrounding tissue, forming a tumor-like mass or hematoma. Since the skull is rigid, the hematoma presses inward against the brain. If the pressure continues, the brain can be affected. An epidural hematoma is the result of rupture of a relatively large meningeal artery, so that there is a rapid leakage of blood, causing increased intracranial pressure that can be fatal in a short period of time.

Subdural hematoma occurs beneath the dura mater, between the tough casing and the more delicate membranes covering the tissue of the brain, the pia-arachnoid. This kind of injury is more often caused by the head striking an immovable object, such as the floor, than by a blow from a moving object. There may be no severe head injury or fracture. A blow to the head can cause the brain to move violently, tearing blood vessels and forming a swelling that may include fluid from the brain tissue. A chronic subdural hematoma may remain and increase in size. (See also "head injury" HEAD INJURY.)

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of epidural hematoma occur within a few hours after injury. There can be a sudden or gradual loss of consciousness, partial or full paralysis on the side opposite the injury, and dilation of the pupil of the eye on the same side as the injury.

The symptoms of chronic subdural hematoma are similar to those of a brain tumor, and may come and go. Diagnosis is difficult, particularly in older people. There may be subtle personality changes, or the patient may become confused, weak in various parts of the body, vague, and drowsy.

Subdural hematoma may occasionally occur in babies as a result of birth injury. Unless the injury is discovered and treated at an early stage, the child's mental and physical development may be retarded, and spastic paralysis can occur. Early surgery is usually successful in preventing permanent symptoms and disabilities.

Treatment

Prompt surgery is the only treatment for epidural hematoma. The clotted blood is removed by a combination of suction and irrigation methods through openings made in the skull, and the bleeding is controlled. The same surgery is used for subdural hematomas.

Courtesy of WebMD and Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, 2000

Rahman complained he lost because of the butts, but he also took punishment from Holyfield's fists in what was possibly the former champion's sharpest performance since he beat Mike Tyson six years ago.

"I didn't think he could do so much damage with his head," Rahman said. "He must have a metal plate in there or something."

The head butt in the seventh round, which followed one in the fourth, appeared to cause the mark on Rahman's head. The swelling kept getting bigger until it had grown grotesquely on the top left side of his forehead.

"I have a cut in the middle of my forehead, and an extra head on my head," Rahman said.

Referee Tony Orlando let him come out for the eighth. After taking a series of punches against the ropes, though, Orlando led Rahman over to ring doctor Dominic Coletta. He told Rahman he could continue if he could see, but Rahman said his vision was blurry.

The fight went to the scorecards, and judges Steve Weisfield and John Stewart had Holyfield ahead 69-64, while Melvinia Lathan had Rahman winning 67-66. The Associated Press had Holyfield ahead 69-64.

"We did hit heads there, but I'm hitting him with shots anyway and I hit him right on it," Holyfield said.

Holyfield certainly looked like a winner, reaching to the cheering crowd as the judges tabulated the scorecards. Rahman, meanwhile, was dazed and confused for several minutes after the fight, while he got medical attention on his stool.

"He was head-butting me from round one and I told the referee," Rahman said. "I don't feel Evander beat me. I don't think it was a fair or an official fight."

Holyfield, the aging statesman of the heavyweight division, attacked Rahman early and often, not afraid of a younger fighter who was also supposed to be much stronger.

Rahman (35-4) entered the ring as a slight favorite, but it was clear by the second round that Holyfield had far more ring skills and savvy in a bout that was fought at close quarters.

The fight was billed as an elimination bout, and it moved Holyfield in line possibly to fight for a title again, depending on what happens next week when Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis fight and next month when John Ruiz and Kirk Johnson meet for the WBA version of the title.

"One of the guys who wins next week might want a big payday, so I'll fight the winner of that or the winner of Ruiz-Johnson," he said. "But I'd rather fight the winner of Lennox-Tyson."

It was the second straight loss for the 29-year-old Rahman, whose reign as the heavyweight champion lasted only seven months and who said he would retire if he couldn't beat Holyfield.

Rahman showed plenty of heart but couldn't figure out the cagey Holyfield, who would punch when Rahman least expected it.

"Every time he would jab me I thought he would come one way and he'd come another," Rahman said.

The crowd of about 9,831 at the Boardwalk Hall cheered loudly for Holyfield as he entered the ring for what would be his first non-title fight since he scored one of the biggest upsets in boxing history by beating Tyson in November 1996. Holyfield (38-5-2) had either challenged for a title or defended one in his last nine fights, going 5-2-2.

He gave them what they wanted in a workmanlike performance that included several big exchanges in which he teed off on Rahman with combinations to the head.

"He didn't keep his hands up," Holyfield said. "Today he put himself in a position where I could hit him."

Holyfield had a reputation for using his head in the ring, something Tyson bitterly complained about. He got so frustrated in their second fight in 1997 he finally bit Holyfield's ears.

"I should have prepared for the head-butting better," Rahman said.

It was Holyfield's reflexes that were questioned coming into the fight against Rahman, but he was able to put his punches together when it mattered. Rahman seemed to be unable to land much more than an occasional head shot.

Punch statistics showed Rahman landed nearly the same number of punches as Holyfield, 118 to 129. But Holyfield landed the more powerful blows and dominated inside.

It was a battle of former champions, although Rahman lacked the credentials of Holyfield after holding the heavyweight title he won from Lewis only seven months before Lewis knocked him out in their rematch last November.

Holyfield, meanwhile, was heavyweight champion four times and considered one of the best of his era although his speed seemed to have slowed in recent years.

Holyfield, who weighed 216, earned $5 million, while Rahman, 224, earned $2 million.

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