Posted on 11/07/2001 4:55:36 AM PST by HIDEK6
So what about this rematch between Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis on November 17th?
Does Lewis truly deserve a chance to reclaim the heavyweight boxing crown which he never really deserved to own in the first place? Let's face it, the guy's a stiff. His defeat of Evander Holyfield was pointed at as a justification of Lewis' right to wear the belt. First of all, he first drew Holyfield in their first bout and his later win wasn't convincing.
Few real opponents
Secondly, Holyfield was past his prime when he took on Lewis. The rest of Lewis' victims were mostly bums. He got past a second rate Frank Bruno in 7 rounds in '93, beat a brain-dead Andrew Golota in the first round in '97, and took 5 rounds to score a TKO over the hapless Shannon Briggs in '98. One of his few real opponents, Ray Mercer, was ripped off royally when Lewis was awarded a 12 round decision in '96.
Sickening spectacle
And then there was that sickening spectacle when an un-recovered crack addict Oliver McCall was put in the ring with Lewis in February of '97. McCall had an emotional breakdown in the middle of the fight. He clearly wasn't ready to even be in public, let alone be in any kind of mental shape to box. Of course that dufus Lennox Lewis didn't get it. He thought McCall was "blown away by my style and the way I look." Score another easy "victory" for the big idiot with the glass jaw. Oh, yeah, that Lewis jaw. Nobody had ever really taken a good whack at it, had they?
Rahman no stiff
Believing his own press, Lewis didn't train all that hard for his match against an unknown club fighter from Baltimore named Hasim Rahman. He was supposed be one more in a long line of stiffs set up for Lewis to knock down. But Rahman turned out to be no stiff. He rocked Lewis early with tremendous body shots. But the shocker came in the 5th round when Rahman clocked Lewis on that glass jaw with a right hook that sent the Pretender to the Crown to the mat.
Gone horribly wrong
When Lewis came to, his entire world had collapsed. This supposed "routine" fight had gone horribly wrong. His carefully laid plans to reach the top of the boxing world without ever fighting a true contender at his peak had gone awry. Now it's Lewis who is training hard, saying all the right things in the media and counting his lucky stars that Rahman has to give him a rematch. But both Rahman and Lewis know it isn't their fight that'll produce the massive payday.
A huge purse
It's going to be the winner of their fight taking on Mike Tyson. For reasons that are too complex to debate here, Tyson remains the biggest draw in boxing, no matter what he does. Lewis' camp had planned to fight Rahman as a tune-up and then go against Tyson for a huge purse. Now nothing is certain and Lewis isn't even favored to beat Rahman.
Undeserving champ
My bet is Rahman will once again get inside Lewis' ineffectual reach, punish his body early and then go for the knock out shot in the middle rounds. By then the easily winded Lewis will be ready to drop. Never was there such an undeserving champion, and man, it is good to see him on the outside once again, looking in. I trust Hasim Rahman will keep it that way.
Maybe the judges called it a draw, but Lewis beat Holyfield in the first fight - and I was rooting for Holyfield.
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