In a lackluster bout, Hasim "The Rock" Rahman (41-5-1, 33 KO's) coasted to a one-sided unanimous decision victory (118-110, 116-112, and 118-110) over Monte "Two Gunz" Barrett  (31-4, 17 KO's) to claim the Interim WBC Heavyweight Championship and the right to challenge the reigning WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko for his crown.

 

This was a very slow paced fight from the beginning which angered the United Center crowd of 15,101, both fighters seeming content to just jab. Throughout the majority of the fight this would be the pace; Rahman controlled the ring for most of the fight, he continued to back Barrett up but failed to really let his hands go especially his overhand right, mainly controlling the fight with his jab, especially for the first nine rounds. Rahman's renowned power was shown only in flashes during this fight and those flashes were few and far between, including a sharp right hand shot that relieved Barrett of his mouthpiece in the center of the ring early in the 12th, the most action packed round of the fight.  

 

It was very apparent to me early on in this fight that Monte Barrett really had no game plan and was completely unwilling to mix it up with Rahman. Barrett back peddled through the vast majority of the fight, simply pawing at Rahman with jabs and straight rights. Barrett waited till the 10th round, with Rahman starting to show signs of fatigue, to finally start throwing with some authority and was able to get Rahman in some trouble in the 12th when Barrett landed a big right cross, his best punch of the night, but ultimately he failed to capitalize, winning only the round.

 

While Rahman did not look very impressive and Barrett looked anemic, the significance of this bout is substantial. Rahman is now set to fight WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KO's) who is considered by most to be the best Heavyweight in the world. According to the WBC the fight is to take place within 120 days; however, with Rahman sustaining a cut above his left eye tonight, from a clash of heads, that window is likely to be extended.