Rahman sensed his moment to strike, sending in a right hand that landed flush on his rival's chin. The fifth, though, saw the fight come to an emphatic end.īacked up against the ropes as he looked to preserve energy in the final minute, Lewis dropped his guard. He managed to do enough to be two points up in the eyes of all three judges by the end of the fourth round, aided by the fact he had both a height and reach advantage over Rahman. In his story on the fight for The Telegraph, Mee wrote that Lewis was “laboured and heavy-footed” while also found himself “tossing cumbersome right hands.” However, it soon became clear that The Lion was feeling the heat in Africa. He should just worry about me."ĭespite all the warning signs, few saw Lewis coming a cropper in the fight.Įven if he had Tyson on his mind, even if he had failed to dedicate himself to training properly, both in terms of his opponent and the conditions, his talent was likely to be enough to get him through. (Rahman) shouldn't worry so much about the altitude. Lewis, for his part, believed he could defy medical convention, per Steve Springer of the Los Angeles Times: "I don't believe everything the scientists say about altitude. Part of the reason why Rahman and his camp were so confident was Lewis’ physical state.Īt the age of 35, he tipped the scales at 18 stone and one pound, the heaviest he had ever weighed for a bout during his career to date. So too was his manager, Stan Hoffman, as he reportedly placed a seven-figure wager on his fighter to triumph. In an interview with Radio Five Live (h/t BBC Sport), Hoffman said: “I think this will be the beginning of Lennox’s retirement.” Having prepared diligently, the man from Baltimore was adamant he could upset the odds. Rahman, in contrast, had travelled well in advance of fight night, arriving around a month early to help him adjust to his surroundings. He had already been getting acclimatised to the altitude by working out in New York's Catskill Mountains, per Dan Rafael of USA Today. He had based his training camp in Las Vegas but still managed to take the time out of his schedule to do three days of filming on the set of Ocean’s Eleven, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. He had, however, been beaten by David Tua, a fighter Lewis had comfortably out-pointed in his previous outing. The 28-year-old challenger was far from a pushover, though, boasting a 34-2 record. But, instead, he signed a deal to face Rahman, with BoxRec listing the champion's purse at $7 million. The Brit had been chasing a lucrative fight with Iron Mike for some time. in South Africa.Īs John Rawling pointed out in an article for The Guardian in December, 2001: “Rahman was supposedly a no-risk money earner for Lewis while the champion waited for the real jackpot night against Mike Tyson.” The site for the bout meant that, as well as one another, the two rivals also had to deal with fighting at high altitude.īecause of the desire to air the contest at a reasonable hour in the United States, the bout was scheduled to begin at 5 a.m. There were two major issues the boxers had to take into consideration.įirstly, as confirmed by BoxRec, Brakpan in Gauteng sits at 5,200 feet above sea level. The New York Times called it “the biggest fight in South Africa’s history” and it revived memories of the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire, back in 1974.
0 kommentar(er)
