On April 21, 2001, there was a sensation. World champion in heavyweight Hasim Rahman is among the WBC, IBF and IBO boxing professionals, defeating Lennox Lewis
On April 21, 2001, there was a sensation. Hasim Rahman became the WBC, IBF and IBO World Heavyweight Professional Boxing Champion by defeating Lennox Lewis.
The new champion was born on November 7, 1972 in the American city of Baltimore, Maryland into a Negro family. Hasim began to engage in boxing only at the age of 20, but after 10 fights held at amateur ring, became a professional. This happened in 1994. Gaining one victory after another in the professional ring, Rahman brought their number to 28.
First fight with an elite boxer professional boxing, was the fight of Hasim Rahman with the first number according to the IBF version of the New Zealand boxer David Tua, which took place on December 19, 1998. Throughout the fight, Hasim dominated the ring, but in the 9th round, after the gong, David Tua hit Rahman with a strong blow. Apparently, after this blow, Hasim could not recover, and in the 10th round the fight was stopped, although many experts believe that this was done prematurely.
After this defeat, Hasim Rahman easily won two knockout victories in the fifth and first rounds, respectively, over Michael Rach and Art Weathers, but the most offensive defeat was ahead. On November 6, 1999, just before Hasim's birthday, he was to meet in Atlanticcity with the Russian version of the Canadian George Chuvalo, Oleg Maskaev. In the eighth round of this fight, Rahman missed a terrible blow, after which his body flew out of the ring, sweeping away the monitor of HBO channel commentator Jim Lampley. It took Rahman a few minutes to recover and step up to the ring to congratulate the winner. Later, the blow of Oleg Maskaev will be named the blow of the year.
To the credit of the future champion, defeat did not break him. During next year he won three victories that allowed him to qualify for a fight with Lennox Lewis. True, Hasim's chances of winning were regarded as 1:20, but let's not forget that the chances of Leon Spinks in the fight against Muhammad Ali and James Douglas against Mike Tyson were also small, but still they won and made their names in the history of professional boxing ... Not every boxer in his career gets the right to spend title fight, and if you get a chance, you must try to use it.
The fight took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. The first four rounds passed with a slight advantage of Lewis. Taking advantage of the fact that he is taller than Hasim and has more Long hands, the champion did not show much initiative, but suggested that Rahman do it, periodically punching him on the waste. But in the fifth round, the Englishman unexpectedly misses the strongest blow of Hasim Rahman, Lennox Lewis loses the ring under his feet, and with it all the championship belts.
Now, after a relative calm, intrigue reappears in the kingdom of heavyweights. Just a few minutes after the victory, Hasim's manager is already contacting Mike Tyson's manager to arrange a fight. 23 april Iron Mike states: “I have never hidden that I want to regain the title of undisputed champion, which I first won 15 years ago. As far as I know, Mr. Rahman is not bound by any obligations, and I accept his challenge. Our fight may take place in the near future. " On Lewis' offer to hold a rematch, Rahman's coach Stan Hoffman said that his player would first fight someone else. "And if after that Lewis insists on a rematch, we will respond to this demand - in about a year."
Perhaps now there is a chance to meet with Lennox Lewis at the WBO world champion, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, because Tyson would never agree to a duel with him now, and a fight with Klitschko was planned in the reserve.
Let's wait for the development of events ...
Date: 2011-11-16
Name:(Hasim Rahman)
Nickname in the ring: The Rock
Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Residence: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Height: 189 cm
Record (59 fights, 49 wins, 7 defeats, 2 draws)
Was born on November 7, 1972 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Hasim's parents worked as engineers. Hasim Rahman has 3 sisters and 8 brothers. At Cherry Hill School, Rahman was the top student in academic achievement. He was especially good at mathematics. Thanks to his successes, Hasim Rahman jumped from one class to another. But not everything went so smoothly. Older students began to bully him. After moving to West Baltimore, Hasim decides to radically change his image in order to get rid of the problems with fights. With age, Rahman got used to the role of the bad guy so much that his studies fell back to the last plan. It all ended naturally, he was expelled from school.
Everything changed when Rahman had a son. At that time, Hasim was 18 years old, and he again took up his mind. After graduating from high school, Hasim Rahman entered Baltimore College. It was during this period that Hasim became interested in boxing. Like mathematics, boxing was easy for Rahman. The debut in the professional ring took place on December 3, 1994, when Rahman was 20 years old. In this fight, Hasim defeated Gregory Herington by knockout in the first round. After this fight, he won 28 more victories in a row. He won the Intercontinental International Boxing Federation and United States Boxing Association super heavyweight titles. On December 19, 1998, in the qualifying bout for the IBF heavyweight title, Rahman faced. Hasim fought on points, but at the end of the 9th round, Tua shook the opponent with a blow after the gong. In round 10, the referee stopped the fight after David Tua locked Rahman off the ropes, hitting the head and body.
In November 1999, Hasim Rahman met with. Fighting on points, Rakhman entered the wheelhouse with Maskaev, where Oleg felt more comfortable. After Maskaev made a right cross, Rakhman fell out of the ring, where he regained consciousness for a few more minutes. Soon I got a chance to enter the ring against the champion. Hasim very responsibly approached the preparation before the fight, unlike Lewis. As a result, Hasim Rahman defeated Lennox by knockout in the fifth round. In November 2001, a rematch took place between Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman. In this fight, Lewis left no chance for Rahman, defeating him by knockout in the fourth round. In August 2006, Hasim Rakhman met with Oleg Maskaev for the second time. In the 12th round, the referee stopped the fight because Rakhman stopped responding to Maskaev's punches.
Data:
Growth: 189 cm.
Weight: 101 kg.
Distance of attack: 205 cm.
Current result: 35 Wins (29 by KO), 4 losses, 1 draw
Titles:
- IBF Intercontinental Heavyweight 1997-98
- USBA Heavyweight 1997-98
- WBU Heavyweight 2000
- IBO, IBF, WBO Heavyweight 2001
- Undisputed (WBC / WBA / IBF) Heavyweight champ: 2001
You can compare famous boxers - what way they went in order to rise to the very top, what they are in everyday life and how they behave, becoming the world champion. And if in the case of most boxers you meet a lot in common, then with Hasim Rahman you will be ‘disappointed’ - his story is unique.
Hasim was born on November 7, 1972 into a middle-class family - his parents worked as engineers. In addition to the parents, the family consisted of 8 brothers and 3 sisters. Having inherited from his father a penchant for science, Hasim excelled in mathematics - while attending Cherry Hill School, he was (in some way) a child prodigy and quickly jumped from one class to another, which is a year older. “For a certain time I was an ugly duckling,” Hasim says with a grin, “I often got it from my older classmates.” Rahman explains this by the fact that when teachers transferred him to a higher grade so that he would gain new knowledge about subjects in which he excelled in his level, the new classmates greeted the newcomer unfriendly and fights regularly arose in the school yard with the participation of Rahman. After Hasim moved to West Baltimore, he decides to change his image in order to avoid the problems with the fights that haunt him in old school... “I decided to become just a bad guy so that no one would think to bully. At the new school, I also performed excellently and was asked to move to a group of students receiving awards for excellence, but I refused, fearing a repetition of the carnage that took place in my old school. '
Growing up, Hasim became a really bad guy - he fought, drove in stolen cars and skipped school. It all ended with the fact that he was simply expelled, like most of his friends. “My dad had his own engineering company, so I didn't worry about getting a job when I got tired of walking the streets.”
Career Hasim Rahman
Everything changed when Hasim turned 18. “I got a son and everything was completely different. My mother constantly said that I must become a person and achieve something worthwhile, and I realized that I must become better and raise my child. Actually, I had a baby because I didn't even think that I would live to be 21 years old. I just wanted to have a child and that's all, but when I got it, my life changed, I realized that I had no right to leave him without a father. 'Hasim finishes school and enters Baltimore College:' I had to take courses to to recall everything that I managed to launch, but I felt the help of God and was sure that He was with me even in bad times. 'By that time, Hasim became interested in boxing and, just like in science, he was good at it. One day he had to go up against best boxer its surroundings and the battle ended in favor of Hasim.
‘I was stronger and he told me to go train at Mike Lewis Gym. I will never forget his words. You can make a million dollars with your fists, he told me. 'These words became prophetic - Hasim started going to the gym (and trains there to this day), his first fight took place on December 3, 1994 at the age of 20. He has won 29 straight fights and won the United States Boxing Association and Intercontinental International Boxing Federation super heavyweight titles. All of those titles were on the line when Hasim stepped into the ring against New Zealand native Davis Tua on December 19, 1998. Each round, up to the ninth, Hasim confidently won on points, after which he overlooked the famous left hook of Tua (to my credit, it must be said that the blow was after the gong).
The result is the loss of all titles. This was followed by two victories, and after them Khasim was taught a lesson in attention and behavior in the wheelhouse by Oleg Maskaev. Winning in rounds, Hasim entered the wheelhouse, in which Oleg felt more comfortable, and Rakhman apparently gape again and woke up already behind the ring, lying and not understanding what had happened. ‘I saw Oliver McCall knock out Maskaev in the first round and thought it would be an easy opponent. I underestimated him and did not even prepare seriously, I will not allow this to happen again.
“With 33 victories and only 2 defeats, Hasim entered the 21st century. He defeated three more opponents and got the chance to fight Lennox Lewis for what every boxer dreams of - a champion belt. Lewis approached the training with ease and even took part in the filming of the film, while Rakhman did not allow himself a minute of relaxation (Maskaev's lesson is now always in his memory). For his diligence and diligence, he was rewarded, in the fifth round, he hit Lewis's head with such a force that the great Lennox was in a ‘boxing coma’ for a long time. The victory was notable for the fact that since 1994 no one could beat Lewis, after so many years such luck smiled at Rahman. “Throughout the fight, I didn't let my nerves get the better of me. Lewis tried to go out and dictate the terms of the fight to me, but I did not give him such pleasure. After the victory, many asked me if I would go to Disneyland, I answered - no, I'm going to Mecca. '
The rematch with Lennox Lewis failed and Hasim had to be defeated, but he does not lose heart and continues to train hard and hope to become the champion again. In this he is helped by his family - his wife Crystal and three children.
Video: Fight Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis II
Professional boxing is a sport where the fate of a fight, or even a world title, may depend on a single blow. Hasim Rahman gained worldwide fame after his sensational victory over Lennox Lews. However, bright victories alternated in his career with deafening defeats. In any case, the athlete never shied away from difficult fights, he had fights with all the strongest heavyweights to his credit. Hasim Rahman's knockouts and falls have always been bright events of the boxing world.
Excellent student wearing gloves
Many athletes come to boxing directly from the courtyards, where they have already gained experience in fist fights in street fights... However, Hasim Rahman did not come from such hooligans. His biography is rather atypical in this regard. He was born in Baltimore in 1972 in a large family.
My father was a respectable engineer who owned his own small business. Khasim was a diligent student, passed from class to class as an external student, and showed aptitude for mathematics.
However, after moving to West Baltimore, things change dramatically. Hasim Rahman falls into a bad company, problems with drugs and alcohol begin. Only early parenthood reawakens a sense of responsibility in him. He enters Baltimore College, begins to play sports. On the advice of a guy he beat in a friendly match, he turns his attention to professional boxing as his possible future.
Start of a professional career
Hasim Rahman started boxing quite late - at the age of twenty. But with excellent physical data, he soon achieves success. After ten fights held at the amateur level, the athlete switches to professional boxing. Hasim Rahman has consistently won 28 fights since 1994, fighting, however, with not the strongest opponents.
Only a fight with ex-world champion Canadian Trevor Berbick stands out in this series.
The more experienced fighter was considered the favorite, but missed the strongest blow and was knocked down in the first round. Barely getting up off the floor, the Canadian spent the remaining rounds in deep defense and lost outright on points.
The first terrible defeats
The first opponent from the elite division that the American faced was David Tua. The fight took place in 1998. Rahman started the fight very actively, kept the opponent on middle distance and confidently controlled the situation. But deceit heavyweight lies in the fact that one blow can completely turn the course of the match. At the end of the ninth round, Hasim misses a left hook to the jaw three times in a row and, barely keeping his feet, goes into his corner. In the next section, Tua locked the enemy at the ropes and unleashed a barrage of blows on him.
Despite the fact that most of them did not reach the goal, the referee stopped the fight and awarded the victory to the boxer from Samoa.
The fight with Oleg Maskaev, which took place a year later, became one of the most memorable in the world of boxing. As in the case of Tua, Hasim Rahman outplayed his opponent on points, but in the eighth round he missed a terrible blow in the opposite direction and managed to fly out of the ring, simultaneously demolishing the commentator's monitor of one of the TV channels. This knockout was subsequently recognized as "Impact of the Year".
Short championship
After the defeats, many have already written off such a boxer as Hasim Rahman. The fight with Corrie Sanders was in many ways decisive for the American. The beginning was not very good. Rahman missed swipe and was knocked down in the third round. But Sanders recklessly rushed forward to finish off the opponent and himself missed Hasim's attack. In the seventh round, Rahman already pinned the South African to the ropes, and the referee stopped the fight.
In 2001, the boxer got the opportunity to fight for the world title with Lennox Lewis. No one believed that Rahman was able to compete on equal terms with the formidable Briton. Bets on the battle were accepted with the calculation of 1 to 20. Lewis himself decided to hold a fight in the classroom, did not take active action. However, already in the fifth round, having missed a couple of strong jabs, Lewis went to the ropes and, having received a powerful cross from the right, collapsed to the floor. Thus, for the first time in his life, boxer Hasim Rahman becomes world champion.
Lennox Lewis immediately demanded revenge, but the American's team refused. The opposing side sent a lawsuit to the court, which recognized the defeated world champion as right. In the same 2001, a rematch took place. This time, the Briton knocked out Hasim Rahman in the fourth round.
World Champion again
After the defeat to Lewis in the boxing career, a black streak came again. Defeats to Holefield, Johnny Ruiz, a draw with an old acquaintance David Tua follow. It turned out to be especially offensive for the American last fight, where most of the experts gave the victory to Rahman. But main battle during this period Hasim was able to win. V qualifying match for the title of world champion in three major versions at once - WBA, WBC, IBF, he with a clear advantage defeated Australian Kali Meehn, whose coaches asked to stop the fight after the fourth round.
After Vitali Klitschko left the sport, the championship belt in 2005 automatically goes to Rahman. The first defense turned out to be oiled.
Only a draw in a duel against not the strongest James Toney. However, the decision of the judges was not perfect here either. Many believed that Rahman was simply stolen from victory.
Under the onslaught of the Slavs
Hasim spent the second defense of his championship belt against Oleg Maskaev in 2006. Everyone remembered perfectly crushing blow Russian, with whom he sent the American to the auditorium.
Mystically, history repeated itself this time. The boxer again leads in points throughout the match, and again Maskaev knocks the opponent out of the ring. So, having received the championship belt due to the departure of the former champion, Rahman loses it without having carried out a single successful defense.
Hasim gets his third chance for the title of world champion in 2008. Wladimir Klitschko was supposed to fight with Alexander Povetkin, but due to the injury of the latter, it was an American who was chosen as rivals. At that time, Rahman was no longer in the best shape. The Ukrainian was the best throughout the fight, and in the seventh round the referee stopped the fight, interrupting the beating of the former two-time world champion.
The end of a great career
After the defeat from the youngest of the Klitschko brothers, Hasim Rahman took a break for a year and a half. Returning to the ring, he fights, warming up against not the strongest opponents. He wins all five fights by knockout.
This is how he approaches the match against Aleskandr Povetkin.
This fight was not among the best for american boxer... Already in the second round, Povetkin crushed Rakhman, and he, only holding on to the ropes, did not fall to the floor. However, the judge stopped the beating of the legendary boxer and awarded the victory to the Russian boxer.
Hasim spent his last fight in 2014 in New Zealand against local boxer Anthony Nansen. Having suffered defeat, the American did not tempt fate and finally ended his career.
Be that as it may, Hasim Rahman will forever remain in the history of world boxing, and most importantly for him - his wife Krista and their children were always with him.
Hasim "The Rock" Rahman was born on November 7, 1972 in the American city of Baltimore, Maryland to a Negro family.
On April 21, 2001, there was a sensation. Hasim Rahman became the WBC, IBF and IBO World Heavyweight Professional Boxing Champion by defeating Lennox Lewis.
Hasim started boxing only at the age of 20. But after 10 fights, held in the amateur ring, Rahman turned professional. This happened in 1994. Having won one after another in the professional ring, Hasim Rahman brought their number to 28.
The first fight with a boxer, one of the elite of professional boxing, was Hasim's fight with the first number according to the IBF, New Zealand boxer David Tua, on December 19, 1998. Throughout the fight, Rahman dominated the ring, but in the 9th round, after the gong, David Tua hit Rahman with a strong blow. Apparently, after this blow, Hasim could not recover, and in the 10th round the fight was stopped, although many experts believe that this was done prematurely.
After this defeat, Hasim Rahman easily won two knockout victories in the fifth and first rounds, respectively, over Michael Rach and Art Weathers, but the most offensive defeat was ahead. On November 6, 1999, just before Hasim's birthday, he was to meet in Atlanticcity with the Russian version of the Canadian George Chuvalo, Oleg Maskaev. In the eighth round of this fight, Rahman missed a terrible blow, after which his body flew out of the ring, sweeping away the monitor of HBO channel commentator Jim Lampley. It took Hasim a few minutes to recover and go up to the ring to congratulate the winner. Later, the blow of Oleg Maskaev will be named the blow of the year.
To the credit of the future champion, Hasim Rahman, defeat did not break him. Over the next year, he won three victories that allowed him to qualify for a fight with Lennox Lewis. True, Rahman's chances of winning were regarded as 1:20, but let's not forget that the chances of Leon Spinks in the fight against Mohammed Ali and James Douglas against Mike Tyson were also small, but they still won and made their names in the history of professional boxing. ...
Not every boxer gets the right to fight a title fight in his career, and if there is a chance, he must try to use it.
The fight took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. The first four rounds passed with a slight advantage of Lewis. Taking advantage of the fact that he is taller than Rahman and has longer arms, the champion did not show much initiative, but suggested that Hasim do this, periodically punching him on the waste. But in the fifth round, the Englishman unexpectedly misses Rahman's strongest blow. Lennox loses the ring under his feet, and with it all the championship belts.
Now, after a relative calm, intrigue reappears in the kingdom of heavyweights. Just a few minutes after the victory, Hasim Rahman's manager is already contacting Mike Tyson's manager to arrange a fight.
On April 23, 2001, Mike Tyson states: “I have never hidden the fact that I want to regain the title of undisputed champion, which I first won 15 years ago. As far as I know, Mr. Rahman is not bound by any obligations and I accept his challenge. Our fight may take place in the near future. "
When asked by Lennox Lewis to hold a rematch, Hasim Rahman's coach Stan Hoffman said that first his ward would fight someone else. "And if after that Lennox insists on a rematch, we will respond to this demand - in about a year."
But Lewis managed to defend his right to a rematch through the court.
On November 17, 2001, in Las Vegas, Hasim Rahman fell in round 4 in an already clearly unequal battle with Lennox Lewis, offended on April 22, 2001.
On Saturday, June 1, 2002 in Atlantic City there was a fight between two champions with the prefix "ex-" Evander Holyfield- Hasim Rahman. The victory on points was celebrated by an older boxer - Evander Holyfield.
In the debut of the fight, the boxers acted on short distance, which was in the hands of Holyfield. Despite his age, "Warrior" Evander was faster than Hasim, and often left hooks hit the target. From the very first round, the boxers showed that today their main weapon is constant attacks. Endless blows in both directions surely pleased the 10,000 fans who came to watch the fight former champions... The most interesting thing is that Holyfield showed almost best boxing in his career, as his fighting style was very much reminiscent of the one that brought him victory in the fight against Mike Tyson six years ago in 1996.
"I don't even know what to say," the saddened Hasim Rahman said after the battle.
In the third round, Rahman began to knit the opponent's hands, and not to clinch, but to knit. Boxers often resort to such techniques when they fall into the "hole".
In the seventh round, Evander Holyfield pinned the opponent to the ropes, after which several punches reached the goal, however, during the exchange of punches, the boxers' heads made contact and Rahman's “Rock” had a huge hematoma on his forehead.
1 minute and 20 seconds before the end of the eighth round, after another series of blows to the head, Hasim complained that he had vision problems. Referee Tony Orlando took him to Dr. Dominic Colleto, who decided that the fight should be stopped. Rahman was counting very much on the last rounds, but agreed with the doctor to stop the fight.
After the fight, Rahman was indignant at the opponent's actions: "I needed to be much better prepared for head hits, he had a metal plate there or something like that."
Evander Holyfield earned $ 5 million for the fight, and Hasim Rahman - $ 2 million.
After the fight with Holyfield, Hasim did not exchange for passing opponents, but immediately met with one of the best heavyweights of the last decade - David Tua. Rahman had a pretty good fight against the natural-born puncher, never getting hit by the killing blow of the New Zealander. As a result of the twelve-round confrontation, a draw was recorded, although many then agreed that the judges simply stole the victory from Rahman.
In his next fight, Hasim, despite the defeat from Holyfield and a draw with Tua, by the hands of his promoter Don King was led to the fight for the title of champion. His rival was boxing killer Johnny Ruiz. In a surprisingly boring fight, called by many as the "Worst fight of 2003", Ruiz celebrated an unexpected victory on points.
Rahman's chain of defeats forced many to write off "The Rock" in the category of "ever-promising". But Hasim does not despair: in the last four fights, he won confident victories over the fighters of the lower echelons, which allowed him to return the attention of the fans, and, more importantly, to believe in himself again.
Let's hope that the talented boxer will please us more than once with his performances in the square of the ring.