Atlantic City, NJ: Still, with a title at stake in a jumbled heavyweight division, the Hasim Rahman-James Toney bout left an empty feeling.

 Rahman remained the WBC heavyweight champion Saturday night without beating Toney. Handed the crown when Vitali Klitschko retired last year, Rahman fought Toney to a draw, a verdict booed by many fans in the crowd. So the 33-year-old Rahman has never actually won the belt in the ring.

 “The heavyweight division needed a good fight and I think we put on a good fight,” Rahman said. “I'll fight James Toney again.’ I can beat James Toney and I beat him tonight,” he insisted. “I was competitive inside. I thought it would be harder inside and it wasn't, so I was comfortable fighting him on the inside, even though the game plan was to use the jab."

 It was one of the closest fights imaginable, with both boxers missing more than they connected, and with few flurries. Toney did his best work with right leads, including two massive ones late in the bout. But he also missed a handful of those punches, looking foolish as he swiped the air. “I thought I won the fight, but that's the way boxing goes,” Toney said. “At times I thought he was afraid of me.”

 Rahman carried the action in the final round after Toney landed two early punches. By the end of the 12th, Rahman was holding his hands in the air, thinking he'd won. The judges saw otherwise - sort of.

 Nobuaki Uratani and Tom Kaczmarek each had it 114-114, while John Stewart saw a Rahman rout, 117-111. The Associated Press scored it 114-113 for Rahman. “James Toney made me step up to the plate,” Rahman said. “He hit me with some great shots and I hit him with some great shots.”

 Going into the final round, Kaczmarek and Uratani had Toney in front by a point. Rahman's strong finish ensured he would not give away the championship.

“Even though it was a draw, it doesn't matter,” Rahman said. “I'm still the champ and I'm the one who can go on from here. I can do what I want. I have unfinished business with (Oleg) Maskaev and now I have unfinished business with Toney.

 Maskaev knocked out Rahman in 1999, but it is Toney who figures to be in Rahman's more immediate future.’ If the WBC wants me to fight Maskaev, then Maskaev is next,”Rahman said. “If the WBC says fight James Toney, then James Toney is next.”

 That won't be for a while due to the deep cut he sustained in the eighth round, which got worse at the end. But Rahman said it didn't bother him and the fight never was in danger of being stopped.

 For most of the bout, Rahman pressed the action. But Toney wasn't uncomfortable against the ropes, either. He seemed flabby at 237 pounds, but claimed he was fine.

 “I was 100 per cent,” Toney said. “I thought I won it by two or three points. James Toney is still the best fighter in the world.”Rahman took the WBC and IBF titles from Kitchener, Ont. native Lennox Lewis with a stunning fifth-round knockout five years ago. But Lewis got serious about training and knocked out Rahman in the rematch.

 Since that defeat, Rahman toiled on the fringes of the division, but his perseverance paid off last year when Klitschko retired. Rahman beat Monte Barrett in his last fight, then the WBC gave its belt to him, and Saturday was his first defense.

 “I felt his power, he felt my power,” Rahman said. “There is no secret about fighting James Toney; it's a matter of how much he eats. If he comes in around 220, it's a much more difficult fight.’ Toney owned a title as recently as last April when he out pointed John Ruiz for the WBA crown. But he held it for less than two weeks after testing positive for steroids.

 The former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champ worked his way back from that ignominy, albeit by winning just once, over Dominic Gunn in October.Rahman, from Baltimore, threw 933 punches and landed 279, while Toney, of Ann Arbor, Mich., threw 623 and landed 263.

 Rahman, who weighed in at 238 pounds, is 41-5-2. He earned $2.5 million. Toney is 69-4-3, although he hasn't lost since 1997. He was paid $2 million.

 The other heavyweight crowns are held by Chris Byrd (IBF), Nikolay Valuev (WBA) and Lamon Brewster (WBO). It's been a division in disarray since Lewis retired two years ago, and the Rahman-Toney fight didn't do anything to clarify it.