Wednesday night's main event between James Toney and Hasim Rahman was a much anticipated affair between former champions, a taste of the past between two crafty and successful veterans. It ended early, abruptly, and controversially, with James Toney scoring a questionable TKO win in the third round.

   The controversy stemmed from a bad call made by the California State Athletic Commission. The decision brought boos from the crowd at the Pechanga Resort & Casino and anger from the Rahman camp who felt that given the circumstances a 'No Contest' ruling should have been called. During the third round the fighters clashed heads, something that even Toney admitted later. The butt opened up a decent cut over Rahman's left eye. At the end of the round Rahman claimed he was having trouble seeing out of the eye, and thus, the ringside doctor recommended the fight be stopped.

    According to California rules, any fight stopped under four rounds due to an accidental head butt is to be ruled a 'No Contest.' The explanation given by the Commission as to why that ruling didn't apply in this case, was that Rahman complained of having trouble seeing out of the eye before the head butt, so therefore Toney was awarded a TKO victory. They basically said that the cut came from a punch, even though it was obvious it came from a butt. The ruling was a bad one, and the whole set of circumstances ruined the much anticipated main event.

    The fight started slowly, with both men feeling out each other in the opening round. It should be noted that Rahman and Toney came into the fight in good shape, much better conditioned than when they first met in 2006. Rahman was a tad more active in the opening round, where he began to establish what would be his best punch of the short fight, his jab. The second round heated up a bit more, and Rahman did well, landing his jab for most of the round. Nevertheless, Toney stole the round late with two solid overhand rights. The third round was all Toney, as the round opened with the clashing of the heads. Rahman stepped back to feel the cut and to complain, and could be seen squinting the rest of the round. Late in the round, Toney staggered Rahman with a beautiful left-right combo, and was doing a lot of damage when they got in close.

     Just as the fight was heating up the controversy began. There was a long delay between rounds with the ringside doctor talking with Rahman in his corner. An announcement was made indicating that the fight was over, a victory scored for Toney, who hit the mat in celebration, while Rahman and his camp writhed with anger. Meanwhile the crowd was booing, upset that Rahman couldn't continue. Many were in shock, remembering how  some years ago Rahman fought against Evander Holyfield with a softball size grotesque lump over his eye, (the result of a Holyfield head butt), yet he couldn't fight on in this instance. That being said, it was a bad decision by the Commission, the fight should have been ruled a 'No Contest.'  However, disappointing as it was, the official result of the fight points to Toney as the winner by 3rd round TKO.

     Toney was his vociferous self at the post-fight press conference, inferring that Rahman was looking for a way out. "Lights Out" felt that Hasim was a lot more cautious in this fight because of the shape he was in, adding that he had planned on having Rahman out before the seventh round. He admitted the head butt occurred, adding that Rahman should have fought on, but didn't because he was looking for a way out. Once again, Toney called out Wladimir Klitschko.  Rahman complained that Toney, who resides in California, got a hometown call, and went on to vent about the bad decision.

     There were five undercard bouts on The "Last Chance" card from the Pechanga Resort & Casino. In a scheduled six round junior middleweight bout, Francisco Santana dropped the game Alejandro Bogarin twice en route to a 5th round TKO victory. Santana dropped Bogarin hard with a smashing overhand right in the opening round. Then in the fifth round Bogarin went down hard victim of a barrage of punches that forced referee Pat Russell to call the fight off. With the win, Santana of Santa Barbara, California, improves to 9-1, while Bogarin of Ontario, California, drops to 8-6-3. In a battle of undefeated youngsters, Rico Ramos kept his 0 with a 4 round unanimous decision victory over Jonathan Velardez in a super Bantamweight bout. It was an awkward fight, but eventually Ramos frustrated Velardez with his speed, and won by scores of 39-37 on all cards. Ramos of Los Angeles, improves to 5-0, while Velardez of Houston, falls to 6-1.

     Despite a late final round charge, Mike Dallas Jr. defeated Artemio Reyes Jr. by unanimous decision in an action packed 4 round junior welterweight bout. Throughout most of the fight Dallas was able to use his speed to frustrate and punish Reyes. Dallas was dominating  until the final minute of round four when the valiant Reyes stunned him with a hard right hand. Dallas spent most of the last minute holding,  just trying to survive the fight. Despite Dallas' late rally, it was an impressive win for Reyes Jr., who displayed sharp and quick skills throughout. Dallas of Bakersfield, California improves to 4-0, while Reyes of Moreno Valley, California falls to 1-1.

    In a wild, but exciting slugfest, Carlos Herrera won a unanimous decision over Juan Angel Zavala in a four round lightweight bout. Herrera of Oxnard, California improves to 2-2, while Zavala of Indio, California falls to 0-2.

    In a scheduled four round heavyweight bout, Marcus Dickerson dropped debuting Helamin Olguin three times en route to a third round stoppage. Dickerson of San Diego, improves to 2-0, while Olguin of Lancaster, California falls to 0-1.