BALTIMORE – This was one knockout Hasim Rahman never expected.

Four days after he knocked out Lennox Lewis with a right hook, Rahman and his family were thrown from an open convertible in a motorcade accident after a city-sponsored celebration for the new heavyweight champion.

	Crystal Rahman, wife of world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, is placed on a stretcher at the scene Wednesday. She was not seriously injured.

None of the injuries were serious, a hospital spokesman said.

"Everybody's OK," Rahman said, adding that he was "ready to talk about the next fight."

The boxer, his wife and two of their three children were sitting on the back of a red convertible when it was struck by another car. The convertible then hit a taxi, ejecting the Rahmans.

Rahman received minor cuts on his elbows.

Rahman's wife, Crystal, was released from The Johns Hopkins Hospital on Thursday after being treated for cuts and bruises she sustained when she was thrown from the convertible.

The mishap occurred after Rahman, 28, was honored for winning the IBF and WBC titles Saturday night in South Africa with a surprise fifth-round knockout of Lewis.

Police were escorting Rahman toward the Inner Harbor when an officer in a cruiser tried to stop traffic, police commissioner Edward Norris said. As the officer stepped out of his car, a Volkswagen came through the intersection and hit the convertible, causing it to collide with a taxi.

The accident occurred while Rahman was on his way from the rally to the ESPN Zone in Baltimore for an interview with ESPN, his manager Stan Hoffman said.

Lewis manager: Rematch is on

Lennox Lewis will get his rematch with new world heavyweight boxing champion Hasim "The Rock" Rahman on Aug. 18, according to Adrian Ogun, the former champion's business manager. Ogun said that HBO (Home Box Office) and Lewis's co-promoters, London-based Lion promotions and New Jersey-based Main events had reached agreement on the rematch. Rahman, a 20-1 longshot, knocked out Lewis with a devastating right to the chin in the fifth round of to snatch away the Briton's World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles in Brakpan, South Africa, early on Sunday. -- Reuters

Mayor Martin O'Malley said the convertible was being driven by someone on his staff.

The Volkswagen driver had a green light when the accident occurred, but a police officer had driven into the intersection to stop traffic, police spokesman Kevin Enright said Thursday.

"All of a sudden, a red car comes flying through at an amazing speed," the Volkswagen's driver, Mike Heisler, told WBAL-AM. "I tried to hit my brakes and I almost made it through without me hitting him, but I hit the back tail and he spun around and that's when he hit the taxi cab. That's when everybody flew out."

The children were taken to The Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Crystal Rahman to The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

A Hopkins spokeswoman said Rahman and his family were not seriously injured.

Rahman, who grew up in the poor eastern section of the city and now lives in a Baltimore suburb, was honored as a hometown hero by Mayor Martin O'Malley.

"It was a great rally, a great day for the city and none of us wanted to see this happen, but this is a happy ending," the mayor said.

Rahman, still recovering from a head butt he received from Lewis, probably figured he was safe from further harm in a motorcade with a police escort. But the last time Baltimore staged a sports-related motorcade, a police car was struck by a bus carrying the Baltimore Ravens before the team left for the Super Bowl in January.

"I don't feel like it was anything intentional. Accidents don't happen on purpose," Rahman said after leaving the hospital.

The revelry for Rahman began at the dingy gym where he first learned how to box when he was 20. Hundreds of neighborhood residents gathered to catch a glimpse of Baltimore's first heavyweight champ.

At City Hall, O'Malley gave the champ a key to the city before reading a proclamation making it "Hasim 'Rock' Rahman Day" in Baltimore.

That ceremony took place in a makeshift boxing ring.

"With a tremendous right cross to the jaw, he showed that Baltimore still has the ability to knock the stuffing out of the British," O'Malley said.