According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former world champion Hasim Rahman has pulled out of his WBA World title challenge with champion Alexander Povetkin on July in Germany due to a wrist injury.
“He was working out and he had excruciating pain in his wrist because of the cyst,” said Rahman’s promoter Greg Cohen said. “His trainer, Eddie Mustafa (Muhammad), stopped the session and had him go to the doctor. He had an MRI. ‘Rock’ wanted to have a cortisone shot, but the doctor said it wouldn’t help. So he had surgery (Thursday) morning. Everything went fine. He’s out for two weeks. Really, it’s a minor thing, but obviously we have to postpone the fight.”
“All of us were looking forward to the event,” Sauerland Event managing director Chris Meyer said, “but it is our responsibility to deliver world-class boxing to the spectators inside the arena and the audience at home in front of their TVs. Therefore, after hearing (about) the injury of Alexander’s opponent, we had to cancel the whole show.”
“Our contract calls for a postponement if there’s an injury,” Cohen said. “From our perspective, the fight will be postponed. We’re the mandatory, and Povetkin has to make his mandatory defense. I expect Rahman and Povetkin will be fighting each other in their next fight. It’s a matter of the German TV date.”
“It was a pretty substantial cyst around the wrist, and he said from time to time he had discomfort, but never a big deal,” Cohen said. “‘Rock’ is not a complainer. He didn’t have it checked out. (Wednesday) he said it was like a sledgehammer hitting his wrist every time he punched. He saw the doctor, had the surgery. He did the right thing. Now we have to reschedule the fight.”
“They were disappointed to hear the news but appreciative that as soon as we knew we informed them,” Cohen said. “We hope to have a new date worked out with them soon.”
