Seven months ago, no one outside of his corner or his immediate family knew the name Hasim Rahman.
Seven months from now, no one will remember it.
Saturday's heavyweight championship rematch between Lennox Lewis and Rahman was dubbed as the most anticipated heavyweight fight in years.
Why, you ask?
Perhaps it's because the heavyweight division is softer then Hasim Rahman's skull after the pounding he took on Saturday. Or maybe it's because everyone was curious to see how Lewis would react as a challenger for the first time in a couple of years.
No, I'm not really buying either of those. The fact is that this was such a highly anticipated fight because Don King is a genius and the boxing public doesn't learn.
The marketing for this fight could not have been handled better by the man who saved and killed boxing at the same time. What do you do when you have a no-name champion with a strong overhand right and a reputation for being a street fighter?
You put him in front of a camera. Let him talk for seven months about how he is the greatest and Lewis is a nobody.
Throw him on ESPN in an interview with Lewis so that when Lennox opens his mouth, the new champion's instincts are to fight him right there on a coffee table in an Anaheim television studio.
Let him make the fans believe that he is a reputable fighter, despite the fact that 34 of his 35 career wins have come against men who probably couldn't knock out any member of The Pride of Arizona marching band. No disrespect to the band members intended - I've seen some of you going nuts at the football games and rest assured; I wouldn't want to run into you in a dark alley.
As for what to do about the one widely-known victory, you show his devastating overhand right, landing on the chin of Lewis flooring him, over and over. Never making mention, of course, that Lewis was much more consumed with his cameo appearance in the upcoming film "Ocean's Eleven" than he was with training for his title defense in South Africa.
All of these things combined made up a marketing campaign for this fight that probably left Bill Clinton, Gary Condit and OJ Simpson all baffled at the ability to B.S. so well.
However, when the talking and promotions were over, and Rahman had worked his way down to only a 2-1 underdog in some Vegas casinos, there was no more hype, and the world saw the Hasim Rahman that King had kept hidden from us since his one great punch in April.
The world saw this man get out-boxed by a far superior technician for three rounds before it was Lewis who this time landed a punch so powerful it shook the very structure of the Mandalay Bay. Hasim "The Rock" Rahman then lived up to his nickname by dropping, like the largest of boulders, to the canvas.
As blood began to pour from the nose and mouth of the new former champion, we saw our final glimpse of Rahman's reign as Heavyweight Champion of the world.
At 1:29 of the fourth round, referee Joe Cortez called a halt to the bout and midnight had officially come for Rahman's Cinderella story.
So, what's next for the ex-champ?
Since Rahman was so confident that he would retain his championship, he elected not to sign a long term deal with either HBO or Showtime boxing. That means that we can look forward to following his long illustrious career on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.
ESPN2 is the Florida of boxing. It's where careers go to die.
Prior to the fight, Hasim Rahman said, "I'm already the champ. No one can take that away from me. I'm already a part of history."
That you are, Rock. No one can ever take away your seven-month stint as undisputed (at least not officially disputed) heavyweight champion of the world. No one will ever strip you of the zero successful title defenses you had. And most importantly, no one can ever take away from the legacy that is Hasim Rahman.
You earned your place in history, Rock, by beating an untrained champion that didn't take you seriously. Proudly take your spot in boxing's hall of memories. There's a perfect spot for you right next to such notable fighters as Buster Douglas and Michael Moorer.
Let's face it: in two years you will be nothing more then the answer to a drunken trivia question in some bar in Baltimore.
So, goodbye Hasim Rahman. It's been nice knowing you. Now, rush on back to obscurity before it gets dark. You should have no trouble finding it. You lived there for years before April 22nd. We'll miss you, Rock. Well, probably not, but I always learned never to kick a man when he's down.
And Hasim Rahman is down for the count.
