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07/08/2006 Archived Entry: "FORMER KNOTT STREET BOXING CHAMPION DIES"
FORMER KNOTT STREET BOXING CHAMPION DIES
Rahsaan fought for variety of community causes
By Steve Brandon
LocalNewsDaily.com
A. Halim Rahsaan of Portland, a 1964 national boxing champion for the famed Knott Street Boxing Club, died late Friday night at 62, five days after suffering a stroke.
A Portland native, Rahsaan fought in the ring under his former name, Bill Cross. In recent years, he was a persistent advocate for recognition of the Knott Street club. He successfully pushed to have the team inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. Knott Street joined the Hall in 2005.
“He was a terrific person,” said Chuck Lincoln, who served as Rahsaan’s boxing trainer for about eight years. “And he was a really beautiful boxer. He had the skill, the power and everything else that was necessary.”
The Knott Street gym, in its heyday in the 1960s and ‘70s, was a fixture in Northeast Portland. It was located at 77 N.E. Knott St., now site of the Matt Dishman Community Center, and produced 10 national Amateur Athletic Union boxers. The team won the 1961 national championship, and two of its boxers made the 1964 U.S. Olympic team.
Rahsaan attended Benson and Jefferson high schools and competed in football, basketball and track and field. He was also active over the years on a variety of community projects and issues. He worked for several organizations, helping Portland youth and striving to keep them off the streets and away from drugs.
“He always fought for positive changes in the black community,” said Ron Herndon, director of Albina Head Start. “He was very much involved in everything the Black United Front was doing, which included a lot of fairly aggressive actions, and he helped bring about a number of positive changes.
“He was always a champion for this community. He could have ducked the issues, but he was always the first one to volunteer. Much of his work had to do with education and trying to make things better for children. He worked very, very hard as a drug and alcohol counselor to help people who were trying to overcome those problems.”
“He’s been a mainstay of this community for many, many years, from his boxing days to his advocacy days,” said Tony Hopson, founder, president and CEO of Self Enhancement Inc. “For the black community, he’s been a stalwart many of us have leaned on for support, guidance and wisdom. He was never short on his willingness to step out and say the things he felt needed to be said about equality and justice.”
stevebrandon@portlandtribune.com
