By Ryan Nagelhout
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
Shannon Miller landed the first big blow, but on Saturday night Niagara Falls found out “The Rock”
still has some fight left in him.
Former two-time heavyweight champion Rasim “The Rock” Rahman took down Troy, N.Y. native, Shannon Miller, with a fourth round TKO at the Niagara Falls Conference Center in the main event of “The Rock Returns.”
The fight is part of a comeback attempt by Rahman, which started in December 2008 after a first
round TKO of journeyman Clinton Boldridge. After tonight’s TKO, that comeback attempt looks right on track.
Rahman looked strong in four rounds of action, knocking down Miller once in each round. On his
fourth knockdown, a heavy right hand that sent Miller into the ropes in the blue corner of the ring,
forced Miller’s corner to stop the fight just 1:37 into the round.
Miller surprised Rahman early in the first with a big blow along the ropes, catching Rahman off
guard and earning some noise from the crowd, but Rahman showed those in attendance why he’s the
former heavyweight champion of the world.
“The Rock”’s right hand proved to still have plenty of power, sending Miller to the mat and putting
the crowd on its feet, but in the first three rounds Shannon Miller got right back up and the
referre’s count never made it past five.
Still, Rahman smelled blood and ended things in the fourth, sending the crowd home happy and keeping
his comeback bid alive.
In other undercard action, John Mackey (12-5-2) defeated Donald “Donnie Boy” Orr (15-1) in a bloody
8-round co-feature that went to a judge’s decision. The middleweights traded big punches but Mackey
opened up Orr in the seventh round and gained the advantage.
Orr’s white trunks were covered in his blood by the end of the fight, and a majority decision gave Mackey the win and gave Orr his first
professional loss.
Lionell Thompson of Buffalo kept his record unblemished with an impressive first round TKO of Jessie
Lewis. Thompson moves to 3-0 after a furious start ended the bout just 2:48 into the first round in
a fight that was scheduled for four rounds. A left hook from Thompson sent an off-balance Lewis
halfway through the ropes, where the fight was finally called.
Niagara Falls’ Johnnie Davis scored a draw with Taffo Asongmed in a four round judge’s decision. The
unanimous decision gave the match a 38-38 scorecard to bring the local fighter’s record to 1-0-1 in
his young career. The 6 foot, 6 inch heavyweight had the advantage in the early rounds but let the
fight slip away in the middle rounds and settled for the draw.
