Rahman has his eye on monster payday with Tyson
by Bernard Fernandez
Knight Ridder News Service
Having driven clunkers off the fringe contenders' lot, newly crowned World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman is thinking of upgrading his ride to a used but quite serviceable luxury vehicle. He's casing the showroom floor and believes he sees something he really wants -- the 2001 model Mike Tyson.
``I suppose everyone would love to drive a Rolls Royce or a Ferrari,'' Rahman's promoter, Cedric Kushner, said of ``The Rock's'' preferred option. ``Mike Tyson is the biggest attraction in the world today, and the thought of fighting him probably thrills Rahman.''
The notion of an eight-figure payday against Tyson (48-3, 42 knockouts), who has retained his status as boxing's biggest drawing card if not its most fearsome figure, no doubt has Rahman (35-2, 29 KOs) excited. Win, lose or draw, he's sure to come away with an ostrich-sized nest egg that should provide a lifetime of financial security for him and his wife, Crystal, and their three children.
Rahman's co-manager, Stan Hoffman, figures he can convert his fighter's shocking upset of the overconfident, underprepared Lennox Lewis into the sort of windfall another out-of-the-blue champion, Buster Douglas, received for wresting the title from an uninterested Tyson 11 years ago in Tokyo. Douglas got an incredible $24 million for his first and only title defense, in which he was stopped in three rounds by Evander Holyfield.
``Without question, my fighter wants Mike Tyson,'' said Hoffman, who believes a $15 million payday for Rahman is not out of the question. ``He wants the monster. And if he wants him, why shouldn't he have him?
``Right now, Hasim's the king. It's good to be the king.''
Lewis' U.S. promotional company, Main Events, is threatening legal action to enforce a rematch clause in its contract with the new titlist, but it appears a lawsuit would have little chance of preventing a Rahman-Tyson bout. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which was enacted last year, prohibits coercive rematch clauses as a condition for a challenger receiving a title shot.
Regardless of how the behind-the-scenes stuff plays out, don't expect Rahman to follow the same destructive course as Douglas, who couldn't cope with the pressure of being the main man on the heavyweight scene. Big Buster gorged himself on pizza in training camp before the Holyfield bout and weighed in at a soft-bodied 246 pounds, 15 more than he had for Tyson. It's good to be a hungry fighter, but not if you fill your belly to high-burp levels.
Rahman points to a Nov. 6, 1999, knockout loss to Oleg Maskaev as the inspiration for his determination to always enter the ring as fit and well-prepared as possible. Rahman was winning that one on points when he got clipped with the same sort of crushing right hand he laid on Lewis.
``I want to thank Oleg Maskaev,'' Rahman said. ``He was a wake-up call for me to get serious. That was the best thing that happened to me.''
Born Freeda: Freeda George Foreman, boxer-daughter of George Foreman, received several mentions last week at the news conference in Philadelphia to announce the June 8 pairing of fellow celebrity daughters Laila Ali and Jacqui Frazier-Lyde.
``After I take care of Laila, I'm going after Freeda Foreman,'' vowed Frazier-Lyde (7-0, 7 KOs), perhaps remembering dad Joe Frazier's two knockout losses to Big George.
Laila Ali (9-0, 8 KOs) lumped Freeda Foreman in a group of wannabe offspring that includes J'Marie Moore (2-0, 1 KO), Maria Johansson (0-2) and Irichelle Duran (1-1, 1 KO), who are, respectively, the daughters of former world champs Archie Moore, Ingemar Johansson and Roberto Duran.
``Once I got in there, they all decided to (fight),'' said Laila Ali, correctly noting that J'Marie Moore arrived on the scene before her, if not with as big a splash. ``I don't have a problem with that. There's room for everybody. But only one of us can be at the top, and I'm definitely going to be that one. I'm there already.''
Freeda Foreman (4-0, 3 KOs), training for a May 20 fight in Belterra, Ind., against an undetermined opponent, realizes the division of women's boxing devoted to celeb daughters has evolved into something of a cottage industry. She just isn't sure what she thinks about that.
``It's true that one of the inspirations for me going into boxing was seeing (Laila Ali and Frazier-Lyde) go into it,'' Foreman said from her training camp in Denver. ``I don't know how Laila and Jacqui feel about it, but I am not trying to make it in this sport on my father's reputation. My name is Freeda George Foreman, but I can't be him. I want people to see me as me. Right now they're looking at me as George Foreman's daughter, and I understand that. But my mission is to establish my own identity.''
Freeda Foreman, by the way, picks Frazier-Lyde to defeat Ali.
``I think it's going to come down to heart and who wants it more,'' she offered. ``I see Jacqui as more driven than Laila. I think Laila gets intimidated very easily. It seems that Jacqui already has gotten into Laila's head.'' |
