Former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman set for September return

Former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman is set to return to boxing on September 24, ending a 12-year period away from the ring. The 53-year-old American will face 40-year-old Phillip Triantafillo in a six-round contest for the USA Indiana State Heavyweight Title.

The bout will take place at the Hammond Sportsplex. Rahman had initially been scheduled to return against Robert Simms on August 18, but that fight was cancelled. His comeback has therefore been moved to September, with Triantafillo now standing as his opponent.

Rahman is best known for stopping Lennox Lewis in 2001 in South Africa. The victory was one of only two defeats suffered by Lewis during his professional career, although the British heavyweight later gained revenge in both cases.

Lewis defeated Rahman in their rematch seven months after the upset, producing a knockout that allowed him to regain the WBC, IBF and lineal heavyweight championships. Rahman’s earlier victory had given him a major place in heavyweight history despite Lewis eventually reversing the result.

Lewis’s other career loss came against Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium in 1994. McCall took Lewis’s WBC title that night, before Lewis stopped him in their rematch two-and-a-half years later.

Rahman’s return comes more than two decades after his first reign as heavyweight world champion. He will now attempt to resume his career in a six-round title bout after more than a decade without a professional fight.

The Rahman family remains connected to combat sports. His son, Sharif Rahman, has moved into bare-knuckle boxing with BKB after signing with the organisation. He entered that discipline with an unbeaten professional record from nine fights.