Hasim Rahman, 53, Eyes George Foreman's Record in Comeback Fight

While most of the heavyweight noise this weekend belongs to 21-year-old Moses Itauma — 14-0 with 12 knockouts and chasing Floyd Patterson's mark as boxing's second-youngest champion when he meets Filip Hrgovic for the IBF title — a very different clock is ticking on the other end of the sport. Hasim Rahman, the two-time champion who once flattened Lennox Lewis, is coming back at 53.

Rahman fights September 24 against Phillip Triantafillo, a journeyman carrying a 4-4 record, for the USA Indiana State heavyweight title. It'll be his first bout since he retired in 2014 and his first win attempt in over 15 years. The target he's actually aiming at is bigger than a state belt: George Foreman's record as the oldest man to hold a heavyweight world title, set when Foreman stopped Michael Moorer at 45 in 1994.

That's an eight-year gap Rahman would need to close, and he knows how it looks. 'The Rock' told About Boxing that plenty of people worry about the comeback, because they measure him against the average guy his age or someone who's absorbed the punishment he has. His answer? He's a different species. He says he loves himself too much to put himself at risk, insists he's strong, in shape, and still hitting hard.

The Case He's Making

Rahman's pitch leans on hindsight. He framed it as the classic fighter's lament — if I knew then what I know now, I'd have been dangerous — except he claims he does know it now. Whether that translates into a body that can handle a comeback at 53 is the part the ring will settle, not the interview.

For context, Rahman's career high remains that stunning fifth-round knockout of Lewis in Johannesburg back in 2001, a result he couldn't repeat when Lewis knocked him out in the rematch later that year. He built his name on power, and power is the one thing fighters swear stays with them longest.

The contrast with Itauma is almost too neat. One heavyweight is trying to enter the record books before he's old enough to have peaked; the other is trying to rewrite them decades past his. Rahman's line about taking a step back before you can step forward sums up his mindset — though a 4-4 opponent for a state title is a long way from Foreman versus Moorer. History, if it comes, is a lot of rounds down the road.