Rahman article

Rahman: Ready To Fight Again! November 22, 2004 By David Greene Less then a week after knocking out Australian Kali Meehan at New York's Madison Square Garden, Hasim Rahman (40-5-1, 33) granted an exclusive interview to FightNews, where he spoke at great length about his future plans, the sport of boxing and heavyweight Vitali Klitschko. Rahman said just five days after his destruction of Meehan, "I feel excellent. Actually, I feel like I'm ready to fight again." On the fight with Meehan, Rahman graded himself an "A," adding, "I finally listened to my corner and I followed the game plan." Asked about the critics of Meehan, (29-3, 23) including Klitschko, who was in New York this past Monday, when he stated Meehan was a "poor quality" opponent, Rahman responded, "I knew they were going to say that. This guy should have been the WBO champion... and I think he deserved to be there." The Baltimore native was also informed that Klitschko asked reporters, "Do you really think (Rahman) hits that hard ?" to which Rahman responded, "He'll find out how hard I hit when we get in there." The "Rock," says his boxing career began on the streets of Baltimore with a guy named Lewis Butler. Rahman recalls, "He told me I could make a million dollars, so I said 'what am I doing out here? Take me to a gym.'" A big fan of the sport, Rahman says he tries to get to the fights whenever possible. All-time favorites of Rahman include Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. Rahman adds, "Those guys were definitely great fighters and did tremendous things for the sport." Asked for his top-five selections of today's top pound-for-pound fighters, Rahman names Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, Kostya Tszyu, Antonio Tarver and Ronald "Winky" Wright. With a new national commission and organizations like the Joint Association of Boxers (JAB) and Fighter's Initiative for Support and Training (F.I.S.T), FightNews asked Rahman what he thinks the sport will look like in five years, Rahman replied, "I just hope it will benefit the boxers in the long term, when they get out of the sport. I think that some type of pension should be mandatory." Asked about some of the other ills that plague the sport, Rahman then stated, "Promoters taking fighters away from each other," and, "I just think that top-ten fighters should only be allowed to fight top-ten fighters." On his fight with Meehan, Rahman adds, "He didn't hurt me at any time in the fight; I was in excellent condition." Rahman also stated he knew Meehan was in trouble, "When he signed the contract." Asked who most impressed him on the 'Struggle For Supremacy' card, Rahman responded, "Chris Byrd fought a giant in Jameel McCline, and he had to get up, and I mean he was knocked-out and he got up and showed a champion's heart." On a future opponent, Rahman would say, "I just want to fight. It's not set in stone who I want to fight. I just want a championship belt, and once I get a belt, then I'll face whoever. Rahman was then asked who is the hardest puncher he's ever faced; Rahman answered, "Lewis". Asked if he was disappointed that a third fight never materialized between the two, Rahman stated, "I felt that a rematch should have been in order, but he opted against it." Rahman added, "If Lewis comes back, he'll go out a loser." Having just turned 32 the week before the Meehan fight, Rahman stated he believes he can stay on top of the heavyweight division for two or three more years, adding, "The things I'm doing now, I never did before." His daily training regimen includes a morning run, followed by a day and night workout. On life after boxing, Rahman says he'd like to get into real estate and open his own brokerage firm. Asked how he'd like the sport to remember him, Rahman thought for a moment and responded, "Just a guy who fought whoever and really never ducked anyone." See more from David Greene at Fisticscene.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All contents copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 by Freitag Marketing Services. The information on this site cannot be reused without written permission.