Interesting Q&A with Hasim Rahman..Jr!!

Found this very interesting article on FightBeat.com. Contributor Jake Faunce has a real good question and answer session with 15-year old Hasim Rahman, Jr. who has been training at the famous Kronk Gym in Detroit. I thought it was fascinating and I wanted to share it with you.

In boxing, it’s rare that the accomplishments of the son exceed the accomplishments of the father. The newer generation has the name, but usually lack the skills to back it up. Although it might be too early to pass judgment on Chavez Jr., Paez Jr., Hearns Jr., and others—the only fighter that looks like a sure bet to challenge his father’s mantle is Hasim Rahman Jr.

Hasim Rahman Sr. got a relatively late start in boxing at age of 20. With the news of a baby on the way, Hasim was inspired to find a way to bring his child up right, but he needed some serious cash. He walked into a boxing gym one day and started sparring. Rahman had no amateur background, but was gifted with some natural boxing skills. The trainers where impressed by his powerful right hand. Seven years later, that right hand won him the heavyweight championship of the world when he knocked out Lennox Lewis in South Africa.

Today, Rahman has been helping prepare his son for the great things that await him in boxing. Rahman Jr. spars with his dad every other day, and Sr. ain’t goin’ light on his kid. In a recent sparring session, Rahman was toying with junior, playing mind games—teaching him the type of tactics his opponents will undoubtedly use to get him out of his game. “Boxing is 90% mental, 10% physical,” you often hear said by boxing men. Recently, when Junior lost focus for a moment, Senior Rock opened up and deposited him on the canvas for a ten-count. A hard lesson, but Rahman Sr. is a hard man.

Physically, Rahman Jr. looks and moves more like a basketball player than does his father. He’s 6’1” and weighs a little over 200lbs. Doctors project Jr. will be 6’4” and weigh around 235lbs. He’s all muscles, yet is catlike agile. Father and son standing together looks like a tank parked next to a Toyota 4-Runner.

FightBeat’s Jake Faunce had an opportunity to chat with Rahman Jr., who recently went off to the Poconos to train with Wladimir Klitschko. Here is what he had to say:

JAKE FAUNCE: What you been up to lately Hasim?

RAHMAN JR: Stayin’ in shape getting ready for the amateur heavyweight tournaments, bring boxing back where it used to be.

JF: I hear you've been training with Emmanuel Steward, did you go to Detroit to train and how did it go?

RJR: In the club with Manny for a month and a half, living with him and Andy Lee. Learned a lot about boxing and after training with him I now know he's the greatest trainer of all time.

JF: Jumping right into Kronk was kind of a baptism by fire for you. It had to have been a huge learning experience?

RJR: Definitely. A big change. I had to dig down deep to keep up. It’s not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Can't be messin’ around, gotta be ready for it.

JF: How do you feel that possibly the greatest current trainer in boxing saw enough talent in you to bring you into his prestigious stable of fighters?

RJR: It’s an honor. For him to see somethin’ in me, to bring me on and stay in his house—just to get this far is an honor. But this is nothing, it’s just the beginning.

JF: You got your first big time sparring session in when you joined the Kronk team. You sparred world rated cruiserweight Jonathan Banks. How did that sparring session go?

RJR: Me and JB went 3 rounds in the Top Rank gym in Las Vegas. No one was there but Andy Lee, Manny and Kermit Cintron. He didn't beat me up. A lot of fighters will go in there and beat you up, but JB was teaching me. He is the assistant trainer for the fighters, so it was a great experience.

JF: After your dad’s fight with Oleg Maskaev it was reported that you went back into Oleg’s dressing room and talked to him. What happened there?

RJR: After the fight, before they announced the winner, I was really mad. In a rage. I tried to go after Oleg, but Travis Kauffman, the heavyweight prospect, held me back. But I thought about it. This happens in boxing; its part of the game. I went back and my dad was fine. Then I went back into Oleg’s dressing room and I said to him, ‘You’re a great champion.’ But I said to him, ‘Hasim Rahman will be heavyweight champion one day, whether it be me or my father.’

JF: It must have been really hard to go back in the dressing room of the man who just defeated your father?

RJR: It took a lot to go in that dressing room and go in there and say that to him. And I know anything that happens in the ring is the will of Allah. And I know that my dad, by the end of 2007, will be the heavyweight champion of the world.

JF: If you were to compare your style to another fighter’s, who would it be?

RJR: Lennox Lewis, Wlad Klitschko, Andy Lee. Manny teaches all the same things to form a base. I’m in my base-stage right now, still haven’t broke out into what I’m gonna be yet. We already know I'm strong and have speed. My dad didn't start till he was 20 and became heavyweight champion of the world. I started at 14 and I have the best trainer in boxing, so how they gonna stop me!?

JF: You have the most hype around a 15-year-old fighter I’ve ever seen. Doug Fischer of MaxBoxing.com went as far as saying you could be the next dominant American amateur heavyweight. Recently, Emmanuel Steward praised you on a HBO telecast. The hype machine has started, what do you want it to say to people that hasn’t already been said?

RJR: He's gonna save the division. That he's gonna be the biggest name in boxing, not just I the heavyweight division, but the sport. That he has what it takes to take boxing as a sport to the next level.

JF: Is there anything you'd like to say to the boxing world Hasim?

RJR: I'd Like to say, look out for Kronk Boxing Team. We have a lot of talent. Fighters like Andy Lee, J'leon Love, Isaiah Thomas, Erik Be’ Leon, Latonya King. Look out for us…to not take shortcuts and to be ready. Put your seat belts on cuz we're comin. On behalf of Kronk Boxing, I'd like to thank Emmanuel Steward.