There was no stunner, no triumphant home return punctuated with a championship-belt trophy.

By Bob Caico at ringside
Photos: Boxing Bob Newman

Former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (47-7-2, 38 KOs) scored a fourth round KO over Shannon Miller (16-5, 9 KOs) on Saturday night at the Niagara Falls Conference Center in Niagara Falls, NY. Miller staggered Rahman with a big right hand in round one, but “The Rock” roared back to drop Miller in rounds one, two, three and four before the bout was halted at 1:37 of round four.
—–
In the co-feature, middleweight John Mackey (12-5-2, 5 KOs) upset previously unbeaten Olympian Donny Orr (15-1, 6 KOs) by majority decision. Scores were 76-76, 77-75, 77-75.

Full Report: Former two-time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (47-7-2) stopped Shannon Miller (16-5) of Troy, NY in the fourth round Saturday night in Niagara Falls, NY. Miller nearly pulled off a big upset in the first round as big right hand buckled the legs of the former champion. Near the end of the round Rahman landed his own right hand that floored Miller as the bell sounded. “I definitely felt the shot, it was an attention getter”, said Rahman. The second round was all “The Rock”. A right hand early shook Miller and as the round was about to close a left jab dropped Miller for the second time in the fight. Miller rebounded with a good third round until the 2-minute mark when a big right hand from Rahman put Miller back on the canvas.

The crowd was really into the fight as the fourth round began, as both fighters traded bombs. A left jab followed by a huge right hand dropped Miller in his own corner. Before the referee could begin his count, Miller’s corner had the NYS Commission inspector tell the referee to stop the bout. Time was 1:37 of round four in a very exciting match. Rahman and new trainer Eddie Mustapha Muhammad feel once they are on the same page Hasim can contend for the title again. “When I listened to my trainer I scored knockdowns”, said Rahman. Eddie echoed, “All Rock has to do is listen, double your jab come with the right hand. A few more fights and drop a few more pounds he will be all right”.

In the eight-round co-feature, middleweight John Mackey (12-5-2, 5 KOs) upset previously unbeaten Canadian Olympian Donny Orr (15-1, 6 KOs) by majority decision. Scores were 76-76, 77-75, 77-75. Orr was cut over both eyes from head butts in the 6th and that seemed to turn the fight in his favor but was too late as Mackey took the hard earned decision.

Cecil McCalla of Maryland (12-0) won a unanimous shut out decision over game Ruben Galvin (27-14-4) of Indiana. Youth, quickness and skill were too much for the veteran and the scores of 60-54 three times showed that.

Light heavyweight Lionell Thompson of Buffalo stalked Jessie Lewis of Wisconsin from the opening bell and put him away at 2:48 of the first round. A final left right combination had Lewis sprawled over the middle ropes and referee Charlie Fitch called it off. Thompson improves to 3-0 and Lewis falls to 0-2.

Hastings “Sting” Bwalya (4-0, 3 KOs) of Zambia threw nothing but bombs at Matt Ellis (1-2) of Wisconsin and the final fury had Ellis out in the corner forcing a stoppage at 1:21 of the second of four rounds.

Local heavyweight Johnnie Davis (1-0-1) and Taffo Asongwed (0-3-1) of Montreal split there four-round battle. Scores were 38-38 from each judge.

Delon Parsley, Jr. middleweight from Brooklyn was sharp enough to take a unanimous four-round deciion from Buffalo’s Andrew Jones who was making his profession debut. Parsley remains undefeated at 3-0.