Jim Lampley screamed as loud as he possibly could, “Oh! Right hand put Rahman on the floor right next to me! Right next to me! Right next to me!”
In the eighth round of a Heavyweight bout, Hasim Rahman, who was hurt earlier in the round by Oleg Maskaev, ate a hellacious overhand right that sent him through the ropes, across the announcers table where Lampley, Larry Merchant and Roy Jones Jr were sitting, and then onto the concrete floor at ringside.
Monitors and equipment spilled on top of the fallen fighter.
As Lampley took a knee next to Rahman, Merchant and Jones stood just a few feet behind him in near disbelief. A phalanx of Convention Center security staff rushed to cordon off the area just at the time a melee erupted in the audience near ringside.
Mayhem quickly grasped the moment and held on for dear life. Lampley then continued while still on his knee next to Rahman, “He’s not going to get up anytime soon! Let’s just be sure we can make room for medical personnel!”
With Rahman hurt and fighting with his back against the ropes, Maskaev’s final pulverizing right hand had sent his foe head first onto the floor. A concerned Merchant peered over Lampley’s shoulder adding, “He may have landed on his head.”
While the crowd continued to roar throughout the Convention Center in Atlantic City, Lampley was still able to hear and respond to Merchant while providing commentary to those watching at home. “He did, he did Larry!”
As medical personnel tended to Rahman, who still lay flat on his back, Merchant caught the scuffle brewing just a few feet from where he stood. “There is a battle royal going on out here in the crowd.”
Police were now on the scene and quickly rushed in to aid the security staff and restore order.
On the first Saturday of November, summer was making its final stand before winter could rear its ugly head. It was a near perfect day in Atlantic City as the temperature was in the 70’s and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
The Sopranos had debuted in January just before John Elway won his second Super Bowl. He then retired just a few months later.
President Bill Clinton was in the process of finishing his impeachment battle while America, and the world, was gearing up for the much anticipated Y2K.
The year was 1999.
With the holidays just around the proverbial corner, HBO aired another installment of its popular Boxing After Dark series. On this night, Saturday, November 6, HBO featured a doubleheader where power punches flew and leather seemed to land almost at will.
The doubleheader began with a 30 minute countdown to the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis rematch that was just one week away.
The live boxing action then began as the first bout pitted Derrick Jefferson and Maurice Harris. The main event then featured Rahman and Maskaev.
From Baltimore, MD, Rahman (31-1, 26 KOs) was ranked sixth by the IBF. After 29 consecutive victories, Rahman suffered his first and only loss to David Tua. To say that loss was a highly controversial one would be the understatement of the year.
Tua caught Rahman with a pulverizing left hook bomb just after the bell sounded to end the ninth round. He was allowed no additional time to recover as Tua then jumped on his wounded prey and earned a stoppage in the 10th.
Rahman, as well as many boxing fans and writers, cried foul. He had fought twice since that evening, winning both contests.
In Maskaev, Rahman faced an opponent who was once a Lieutenant in the Russian Army.
Now 30, Maskaev (17-2, 12 KOs) was ranked No. 4 by the WBA. His two losses, both by stoppage, came at the hands of veteran journeyman Oliver McCall and, coincidentally, David Tua.
Ring announcer Mark Beiro introduced referee Eddie Cotton and then the fighters.
Scheduled for 10 rounds, the bout got underway just after midnight on the east coast. Rahman, born on November 7, was now officially fighting on his 27th birthday and looking to give himself an early gift.
It was clear from the get-go that these were two big and physically strong Heavyweights. Rahman, wearing black trunks, was a muscular 234 pounds while Maskaev, decked in blue, looked like a slice of stone at 236 pounds.
The early rounds contained their fair share of fireworks as each man tried to work behind their jab and crack to the body. Both looked to seize the initiative and put themselves in a position to be considered for the winner of the following weeks Lewis-Holyfield championship showdown.
After three rounds, the action was close as Harold Lederman scored it two rounds to one for Rahman. Merchant had it just the opposite, two rounds to one for Maskaev.
The back and forth continued through the middle rounds and into the eighth. Upon entering that frame, one would have thought they were watching an episode of the Twilight Zone as matters quickly took an unexpected and unimaginable twist.
Just 60 seconds into Round 8, Maskaev caught Rahman cleanly, hurting him with a hard right hand high on the temple. Rahman reeled backward and looked to hold and clear his head.
As Maskaev pressed, a dazed Rahman valiantly fought back. With his back against the ropes he ducked and dodged many of the Maskaev missiles that were now being fired at will. Picking his spots, he returned fire in hopes of buying time and holding off the Maskaev onslaught.
The scene then took on a life of its own.
Maskaev uncorked the sledgehammer right hand that sent Rahman through the ropes and onto the floor. He was flat on his back for several minutes while Lampley knelt at his side. After several minutes of examination, the doctors were able to help him to sit up.
Replays of the knockdown caught a chair flying through the air and pelting alternate referee Steve Smoger, seated near the announcers table and who had just worked the Harris-Jefferson bout, in the back of the head.
The chair was launched immediately after Rahman hit the concrete and the melee ensued almost immediately thereafter. As Lampley put it, “We have no idea, of course, what prompted that combat.”
As Rahman finally made it to his feet, the action throughout the Convention Center continued as police and security continued to intercede in the half dozen or so skirmishes that had erupted.
The bout was ended in the eighth round with no official time of the stoppage as the announcers table and the timekeepers table were in ruins after the Rahman swan dive. It was speculated around ringside that the bout ended around the 2:15 mark as Rahman hit the floor with 1:10 remaining in the round.
Lederman then explained the rule, one that is seldom used, when a fighter is knocked out of the ring. “You’ve got 20 seconds when you get knocked through the ropes like that, 20 seconds unassisted by your own people. He didn’t get through in 20 seconds.”
Maskaev was declared the winner by KO as Rahman couldn’t get up let alone get back in the ring.
The action earned honorable mention for “Knockout of the Year” by The Ring magazine. Incidentally, the official “Knockout of the Year” appeared on the undercard when Jefferson blasted Harris with a devastating, picture-perfect left hook.
What a night.
Years later, both men would go on to win portions of the Heavyweight crown.
Ultimately the two would meet again nearly seven years later. With the WBC crown on the line, Maskaev again decked Rahman and stopped him by way of a TKO in the 12th and final round. That night’s action, thankfully, stayed inside the ring.
The dramatics on that early morning in November were hard to match. Many fans got acquainted with the “once in a blue moon” rule when a fighter is knocked out of the ring.
Maskaev earned an impressive win at the expense of Rahman. For Rahman, it certainly wasn’t the birthday present he was looking for.
