Sharkie’s Week in Boxing: Lewis vs Rahman II

By Frank Gonzalez

19.11 - It’s not easy to like Lennox Lewis. His aloof personality and arrogance is offsetting.

Lennox Lewis’ entered the ring to James Brown singing “The Big Payback.” Lewis looked focused and unconcerned about the hype surrounding him. He was a man on a mission.

Hasim Rahman seemed cool and confident in public all week as the clock ticked toward Saturday Nov. 17th where the highly anticipated rematch with Lewis on the menu at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Nevada is a world away from South Africa, and April 21st, when in his moment of glory, Rahman knocked out the presumptuous and underestimating Lennox Lewis.

Instead of staying focused, Rahman concerned himself with Lewis’ hand wrapping. His own camp, too involved with the aftermath of William Joppy’s win over Howard Eastman, were not there to monitor the opponents hand wrapping. Being the only one available from his own camp to watch Lewis’ wrapping, Rahman stood outside of Lewis’ dressing room expecting to be allowed in to witness the hand wrap. Why on earth would he think Lewis would allow him of all people in? Rahman was out of place.

There is something about the eyes and face; they are more readable than what you hear from the mouth. As the fighters entered the ring, Lewis body language was saying, “I’m here to take what is mine.” Rahman’s was saying, “…well, it was fun being the Champion of the World for a little while.”

The odds for the fight were 4-1 favoring Lewis coming in and dwindled to 2-1 still in favor of Lewis by the time the national anthem was being sung.

1st Round: Rahman appeared dry, not warmed up enough. He throws the first punches, grazing Lewis, who in turn employs the long left jab repeatedly, cutting Rahman’s face early. Lewis is the more effective.

2nd Round: Lewis comes on uncharacteristically fast with combos, outclassing Rahman, who does not counter punch when he should. Lewis wins round.

3rd Round: Lewis dominates with the jab. Rahman catches Lewis with a less than flush left hook that got his attention. Lewis goes on to jab effectively, using good movement, creating his range while keeping Rahman off his own and simply out boxed him again.

4th Round: Lewis leads the dance again, jabbing and moving, painting Rahman, who keeps putting his arms up so as to ward off Lewis’ advances. His corner actually advised him to do that. Lewis took advantage of that mistake at 1:29 of the round, when Lewis threw a left jab followed by a full thrust right cross that caught Rahman’s jaw, sending him on a one way trip to the canvas. Attempting to get up at the count of 8, Rahman fell forward and was counted out.

Rahman had his 15 minutes of fame. The ride was over.

Lewis celebrated with taunting chants of, “I told you they (the belts) were on loan!” as he strung the belts over his shoulders. He told Larry Merchant during the post fight interview that Hasim should now change his name to Has-been. Lewis was now, for the 3rd time in his career, undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Lewis was in top shape for this fight, weighing in at 246 pounds, six pounds lighter than last time. He is a great ‘boxer’ and when he cuts loose--can be ferocious. I hope he shows that side of himself in future fights. Had he been so aggressive in his two fights with Holyfield, he’d have knocked him out. Lewis prefers to box instead of slug. He is usually methodical instead of exciting, thus escaping the “darling status” of the media. The fact that Lewis seldom uses anything but the safe-route in his approach is what many fans find boring about him. Fans want to see action. They got plenty of that this past Saturday.

Lewis says he is open to fight “whoever” next, but wants Tyson. Surely he wants Boxing history to state clearly that he beat Tyson, a contemporary with the biggest reputation of Lewis’ era. I doubt Tyson will take a fight with Lewis. He paid big money many years ago NOT to fight Lewis, opting instead to fight hand picked opponent Bruce Seldon. Remember Seldon? He’s the one who threw his self on the canvas from a Tyson punch that didn’t even connect. Some people think Tyson could beat Lewis because of his fast and furious style and legendary punching power. Wake up folks, Tyson is way past his prime. He couldn’t even knock out “club fighter” Brian Nielson of Germany who was old and overweight when they fought on October 13th of this year. Neilson had virtually no offense, but took Tyson’s best shots up until the seventh round, when looking as though he could have continued, threw in the towel. Lewis is not Brian Neilson.

As for Rahman, a middle of the road fighter who got lucky one night being in the right place at the right time, he got to taste glory. He had a fun time being Champ for a while and made lots of money. That is if Don King doesn’t steal it all from him. The Heavyweight division is not chock-full of talent at this time and soon new faces will emerge to replace the ones we know.

As for the other Heavies, Chris Byrd, the top contender in line has yet to demonstrate any power. Kirk Johnson’s claim to fame was knocking out Oleg Maskaev and winning a decision over Larry Donald some time ago. Wladimir Klitschko would be an interesting match up for Lewis. Klitschko is very powerful and quite athletic for his size at 6’ 5”. Since he is probably the most dangerous other Heavyweight out there, he’ll probably be at the end of Lewis’ list of hopeful matches. Fres Oquendo is still not quite ready for prime time. Lance “Goofi” Whitaker would barely be competitive. It is time for the new blood to step up and make some noise in the Heavyweight division. In the meantime, Lennox Lewis is where he should be, at the top of the class.

Until next time, enjoy all your favorite sports.

Sharkie