A former rival of Lennox Lewis is staging an ambitious bid to return to the top of the heavyweight division at the age of 53.
There is must change amongst the heavyweight stars currently, after Oleksandr Usyk chose to vacate his WBC, WBA and IBF titles.
The WBC have elevated Agit Kabayel to full champion, while the IBF have recently announced their plans for the vacant belt. The WBA are yet to reveal their stance, plus Daniel Dubois remains in possession of the WBO belt he won from Fabio Wardley in May.
Big name fighters like Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Moses Itauma and Deontay Wilder all remain active in the division, but it is another former unified titleholder who hopes to shock the world and become champion again.
Back in April 2001, Lennox Lewis defended his crown against Hasim Rahman in South Africa, suffering a shock fifth round knockout defeat.
Rahman would lose those belts in an immediate rematch with Lewis, before going on to compete for another 13 years, with his last professional bout coming in June 2014.
Now over a decade on, Rahman is set to return to the ring at the age of 53, announcing he has fight lined up at the ESL Ballpark in Rochester, New York on August 18.
While no opponent has been confirmed yet, Rahman has taken to social media to make his intentions perfectly clear, insisting that his age won’t be a factor in his quest to return to the top.
“Father time will take his first loss 8/18 in NY… Nobody [can stop me].”
Despite his wishes, it is hard to envisage Rahman causing any of the current heavyweights any problems, but stranger things have indeed happened in boxing.
