Hasim

LAS VEGAS - Stan Hoffman grew up a smallish kid in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and the lessons he learned on the New York streets carried into the boxing ring - and into his career as a fight manager. "I would gouge your eyes. I was a street fighter, which is why I was such a terrible amateur boxer," he said. "I got knocked out a couple of times, but I didn't fight fair. And if you're bigger, stronger than I am, I was going to find a way to hurt you." Hoffman, 69, brings that same tenacity to the negotiating table as co-manager with Steve Nelson for heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman of Baltimore.

BRAKPAN, South Africa - In one of the most stunning upsets in recent boxing history, Baltimore's Hasim "The Rock" Rahman toppled world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis last night. His left eye swollen from an early hit by Lewis, Rahman suddenly landed a mighty right cross on Lewis' chin 2 minutes and 32 seconds into the fifth round. The stunning hit sent the champion to the canvas, and the fight was over. To the cheers of a crowd of 5,000 at Carnival City Casino outside Johannesburg, Rahman was declared the new holder of the WBC and IBF heavyweight titles.

In training for his May 12 fight at New York's Madison Square Garden against Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad -- the biggest fight of his career -- middleweight champion William Joppy is borrowing a page from his stablemate, Baltimore heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. Joppy, speaking from his training camp in the "House of Champions" facility in New York's Catskill Mountains, said during a conference call Thursday that he's doing the same things Rahman did before heading off to South Africa for last week's fifth-round knockout of Lennox Lewis.

Baltimore native Hasim Rahman will not retire after losing his World Boxing Council heavyweight title to Oleg Maskaev on Saturday and instead will "take the rest of the year off" before taking a fight as early as "late February or the beginning of March," promoter Bob Arum said. Neither Rahman, who will turn 34 in November, nor his brother and co-manager, Yah Yah Cason, could be reached to comment. But Arum said he and Cason came up with a plan during an hour-long meeting on Monday. Co-manager Steve Nelson confirmed the meeting.

Veteran Jay Nady was selected yesterday to referee the Nov. 12 World Boxing Council heavyweight fight between champion Vitali Klitschko and Baltimore native Hasim Rahman in Las Vegas. "Jay's one of the world's elite officials. We try to match referees with particular fights, and this fight is perfect for him," Nevada State Athletic Commission director Marc Ratner said of Nady, 6 feet 5, 250 pounds, who worked the Jermaine Taylor-Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones II, Winky Wright-Felix Trinidad, Lennox Lewis-Hasim Rahman II and Kostya Tszyu-Zab Judah title bouts.

The International Boxing Federation has confirmed Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman as its No. 6 contender and has sanctioned his HBO-televised, 12-round fight against No. 5 Danell Nicholson on Oct. 7 as an elimination bout for its No. 1 ranking. Rahman's co-manager, Steven Nelson, also confirmed the site of the bout as The Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Rahman (34-2, 28 knockouts) said yesterday he will relinquish the World Boxing Council belt, which he won by knocking out South African southpaw Corrie Sanders earlier this year.

Heavyweight Hasim Rahman could participate in a non-title bout against an opponent to be named as part of an HBO pay-per-view card promoted by Don King on Dec. 13 at a site to be determined, USA Today reported yesterday. Baltimore native Rahman (35-4-1, 29 knockouts) has moved to Las Vegas to train under Roger Mayweather. He is coming off a draw with David Tua that most experts thought he won. Rahman is the top contender to the World Boxing Council title held by Lennox Lewis, who may retire rather than fight a rematch of his controversial June 21 win over Vitali Klitschko.

Former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, a Baltimore native, has been named the No. 1 contender to Lamon Brewster's World Boxing Organization crown and would get a title shot if he defeats Kali Meehan on Nov. 13 at New York's Madison Square Garden, Rahman's co-manager, Steve Nelson, said yesterday. Rahman (39-5-1, 32 knockouts) goes after his fifth straight win against Meehan (29-2, 23 KOs), a 6-foot-5, 34-year-old from Australia who is coming off a 12-round loss to Brewster on Sept. 4. Rahman, 31, is rated No. 1 by the World Boxing Association, No. 2 by the World Boxing Council and No. 5 by the International Boxing Federation, whose respective champs are John Ruiz, Vitali Klitschko and Chris Byrd.

"It's a minor setback to a major comeback," said Hasim Rahman, the ex-heavyweight world champion from Baltimore. Rahman (40-5-1, 33 knockouts) was referring to the news that World Boxing Council titlist Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) had pulled a thigh muscle Friday, forcing the postponement of a bout between the two that had been scheduled for April 30 at Madison Square Garden. The injury came just days after Rahman had agreed to the financial terms of their matchup with promoter Don King, and likely will move the bout back to June 18, an "almost definite date," according to a source.

The promoters for Baltimore native Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev came to contractual terms yesterday after three days of negotiations in New York, clearing the way for Rahman to defend his World Boxing Council title against his Kazahkstan-born challenger Aug. 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. "Everything is all set," said Rahman's promoter, Bob Arum, whose agreement with Maskaev's promoter, Dennis Rappaport, averted a WBC-mandated purse bid had the two sides not reached agreement before the May 1 deadline.