Rahman Has Grown as a Fighter, Person

At first glance, Hasim Rahman and John Cason don’t seem at all like father and son. Forget that chip-off-the-old-block stuff. It’s hard to believe they even lived on the same block.

Rahman speaks in a loud and aggressive manner, a trash-talk master. Cason is calm and soft-spoken. Rahman makes his living through violence as the heavyweight champion of the world, a title he will defend Saturday night against Lennox Lewis at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Cason makes his living through faith as the director of an Islamic center.

Rahman has had a troubled past. Known as a brawler on the streets of Baltimore, Rahman once pleaded guilty to being a drug dealer and once, while standing on a corner, was shot five times for reasons he says are unknown to him. Cason’s past includes service as a prison chaplain and the writing of a 1,300-page English version of the Koran.

Yet despite all the differences, Rahman has remained close with his father. And it is that bond which has enabled Rahman to keep balance and stability in his life through the wild ride he has enjoyed this year.

Seven months ago, Rahman was thought to be nothing more than a hand-picked stiff, selected to pad the record of Lewis, a two-time heavyweight champ. A 20-1 underdog the April day he climbed into a South African ring to face Lewis, Rahman figured to be forgotten before Lewis returned to these shores.

But one devastating right hand changed all that. Rahman’s crushing, seventh-round knockout punch made him world famous. Promoters and television executives were suddenly throwing millions at him. He was given a hometown parade, traveling in limos, guesting on “The Tonight Show” and being wined and dined by promoter Don King.

But through it all, Rahman kept his faith. While the bombastic King was yelling in one ear, luring Rahman away from rival promoter Cedric Kushner, Rahman was also heeding the simple truths uttered by his father in the other ear.

“What difference does it make if he makes millions and millions,” Cason said, “if he winds up as a joke, a clown? I’m more concerned that he winds up as a good father, a good son, a good husband, that he has been good when the day of judgment comes. If being a champion means he winds up as a bad father, a bad son and a bad husband, I’d rather see him give it all up.”

Rahman isn’t about to give it up voluntarily. Having already made $6.5 million with a $10 million payday upcoming Saturday and countless millions more if he wins this rematch, Rahman is enjoying his nouveau riche status. He has purchased five cars and spent $10,000 on one for custom wheels.

But he also has used his money to help establish his father’s Islamic center in West Baltimore. He has donated $500,000 to aid the relief effort in New York. And he has remained a practicing Muslim, getting up at 5:30 a.m. for the first of five daily prayer sessions.

“It’s something I have to do,” he said, equating it with getting up at the crack of dawn to run because that also is a responsibility.

“Hasim’s role as heavyweight champion,” Cason said, “will be something never before seen. He will be a different cut compared to others who have had that role. He will maintain good family values. He will not squander his money. He will be a champion that other parents can look to and say to their kids, ‘Why not be like him?”’

It’s not as simple as family and money management. Not since Sept. 11. As one of the sports world’s most visible Muslims, Rahman has found himself constantly defending the teachings and philosophy of his religion since the day the Muslim terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

He was asked about it again at a Wednesday news conference.

“The focus should be on the victims and their families,” Rahman said. “The American public is intelligent enough to know these were the crimes of a terrorist, not a religious crime. I don’t have to defend Islam because this is not what Islam is about.”

As confident as Cason is of Rahman’s ability to handle his new role in life, he is equally confident his son could handle defeat, if it should come Saturday.

“We already went through that before the first Lewis fight,” Cason said. “We rehearsed how to deal with it if he won and how to deal with it if he lost.”

Rahman will enter the ring Saturday with two losses, having been stopped by David Tua in 1998 and Oleg Maskaev in 1999.

“It was good that he lost earlier in his career while he was still learning,” Cason said, “even though the loss came because of a bad decision [by the referee] in the Tua fight. I told Hasim, ‘Though you had more skill and talent than Tua, you learned that there is no gift from God. God left you all your skills, but he showed you, it is not just talent that brings you victory. You must also develop yourself as a human being.”’

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Facts

* What: International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight title fight.

* Who: Champion Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis.

* Where: Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.

* When: Saturday.

* TV: HBO pay-per-view beginning at 6 p.m.