Hasim Rahman

Heavyweight champion boxer Hasim Rahman will not return to Central Oregon to train for his March 18 fight against James Toney, according to promoter Paul Brown.

Rahman and members of his camp decided to train for the Toney fight in Rochester, N.Y., instead.

Rahman trained in Central Oregon last October for what was to be a November fight against then World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. But Klitschko pulled out of the fight due to injury, and he subsequently retired. Rahman was then awarded the WBC heavyweight title.

Shortly thereafter, the Rahman-Toney fight was scheduled for Atlantic City, N.J.

During his stay last fall at The Riverhouse Resort in Bend, Rahman repeatedly said he would like to return to Bend to train. But apparently, training closer to the site of the fight was more important.

”It just sort of fell apart last week,” said Brown, the Portland-based promoter who helped bring Rahman’s training camp to Central Oregon. ”A lot of the decision was because the fight is on the East Coast, and he’d lose two days on his legs (training on the West Coast, then traveling to Atlantic City). That was a concern. They truly wanted to come back; we just couldn’t get it together.”

Rahman, 33, spent about a month in Bend, sparring in a boxing ring set up in a tent on Riverhouse property and jogging on streets and roadways throughout Bend.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 235-pound Rahman first made a name for himself in professional boxing when he defeated Lennox Lewis to claim the world heavyweight title in 2001. But he lost a rematch to Lewis in November of that year, then lost two of his next three fights.

Rahman bounced back to win six consecutive fights since early 2004. He has a career record of 41-5-1 with 33 knockouts.

Toney (69-4-2, 43 KOs) won the World Boxing Association heavyweight world title in April 2005 with a 12-round decision against defending champion John Ruiz. However, Toney tested positive in the post-fight drug test for the steroid nandrolone. The New York State Athletic Commission suspended him for 90 days and fined him $10,000. The result was changed to ”no decision,” and James was stripped of his title. Toney has denied taking the steroid.

The Rahman-Toney bout is scheduled to air live on HBO.

”I hope he’s successful,” Brown said of Rahman. ”It’ll be interesting, with the Oregon connection, because people in Oregon now know him.”