Quite a Strange Trip for Rahman

As the sleek stretch limo inches out of the NBC parking lot in Burbank, fans waving boxing gloves, magazines and scraps of papers, peer with hope into the tinted windows.

Inside is Hasim Rahman, whom many of them never had heard of a week ago.

A reporter asks Rahman if he finds all this strange?

“It is very strange,” nods the new heavyweight champion of the world.

Strange? The last six days of Rahman’s life would qualify for a script on The Twilight Zone.

* Last Sunday, at dawn, he was in a ring in Carnival City, South Africa, standing over the body of Lennox Lewis, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight champion. Lewis was on his back after a right hand delivered with devastating force by Rahman, a 20-1 underdog. The fifth-round knockout gave the heavyweight title to Rahman, a man who couldn’t defeat David Tuaor Oleg Maskaev and didn’t even start boxing until eight years ago at 20.

* Wednesday, it was Rahman who was on his back, cut and bruised, on a street in his hometown of Baltimore. Rahman had been sitting on the back of a convertible in a parade in his honor, along with his wife, Crystal, and his children--Hasim, Jr., 9; Sharif, 4; and Amirah, 2--when another vehicle veered around a police barricade and drove frantically past waving officers to crash into the Rahman car.

The collision knocked all but the youngest Rahman into the street where all suffered scraps and bruises.

* Friday, Rahman, who would have had trouble being recognized in downtown Baltimore a week ago, was sitting between host Jay Leno and comedian George Carlin on the Tonight Show in front of a national television audience and the cheers of the live audience.

It was all part of a whirlwind finish to an incredible week.

Friday, 11 a.m.--Rahman and his manager, Stan Hoffman, touch down at LAX.

The pair are whisked into a limo where Rahman does an interview on a cell phone with radio talk-show host Jim Rome.

Hoffman still can’t get over the accident two days earlier.

“I was in the front seat,” he says, “and the thing that saved me was my seat belt and the air bag. I looked back to see Hasim and his family and they weren’t there. I was so scared because I thought they had died.”

1 p.m.--Rahman arrives at the Universal Hilton where he eats lunch.

Hoffman isn’t sure how he and his fighter are staying awake. There has been little sleep since Rahman threw the punch heard round the world.

After the fight, which began at 5:30 a.m. to accommodate American television, Rahman stayed up all day talking and celebrating.

Sunday night, he flew home, arriving in Baltimore on Monday morning. Rahman found himself with so many new best friends that he didn’t even make it to his suburban Maryland home for several hours. Instead, someone rounded up a change of clothes, Rahman showered at the home of a cousin and off he went to mingle with the adoring masses.

When Rahman finally did make it home, Sharif proudly told his father, “No Lewis and Tyson,” referring to the planned $100-million fight with two-time former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

2:30--In a hotel hospitality room, Rahman tapes an interview for E! Entertainment.

“I had my first baby when I was 18,” Rahman says. “And he saved my life. I had a baby that early because I didn’t think I was going to live that long because of the life I was living [on the streets]. I thought that, with the guys I was hanging out with, there was no turning back. But then I realized I’m a man and I can do what I want. I turned my life around. I felt like I owed my son that.

“I am living proof that you can overcome anything.”

2:45--Rahman is getting a quick lesson in Promotional Gimmicks 101. The 237-pound champion shadow boxes with 105-pound television host Cindy Hom for television cameras.

Off in the background, Hoffman’s phone never stops ringing. The 69-year-old Hoffman, who has been in boxing for 52 years, never has been in a better spot. He is being wined and dined by Lewis’ camp, Tyson’s and by Showtime and HBO.

Rahman wants to fight either Lewis or Tyson in August. No easy paydays, no warmup fights for the new heavyweight king.

“I could get somebody in the Top 10 and wipe him out,” Rahman says, “but what would that do for boxing?”

There is one stipulation. Rahman, who once earned $200 for a fight and made $1.5 million for the Lewis fight, has set $10 million as the minimum asking price for his next match.

He says he knocked out Lewis with an eight-figure punch.

“Because,” he explains, “it means I will make eight figures in my next fight.”

If the money is equal, who would Rahman prefer, Lewis or Tyson?

“Tyson,” he says, “because I already got rid of Lewis once. If I beat him again, the public will say I’ve still got to fight Tyson.”

2:45--A photo shoot with model/television hostess Christa Campbell.

Celebrity wears well on Rahman. He acts like he has been doing this all of his life.

4:30--Rahman is in a dressing room at NBC when Leno comes in to get acquainted.

If you fought Rahman, Leno is asked, what would be your best defense?

“Sarcasm,” says Leno.

Leno admits he has a soft spot for fighters.

“It’s a tough way to make a living,” he says, knowing that all too well since his father fought as a bantamweight. “It can be so sad. If you’re No. 1, you’re on top. If you’re No. 2, you’re in the unemployment line.”

5:30--Rahman follows Carlin on the show, which is taped for a later broadcast.

If Rahman is the least bit nervous, he hides it well.

Asked about Carlin by Leno, Rahman offers his services, saying, “He might need some protection with that mouth of his.”

After the taping, there is an interview for a local sportscast, a quick dinner, then back to the airport and on to New York where a news conference is scheduled for today.

“When we get on that plane,” Hoffman says, “we’ll both be asleep before we take off.”