BOXING
Deon Potgieter
It’ll be pride against pride on November 17 when Hassim (the Rock) Rahman defends his universal heavyweight world championship against the man he dethroned for the title, Lennox Lewis, in Las Vegas.
This bout will not be about athletic prowess, it will be about who has the biggest heart. Lewis claims the big right hand that floored him in the fifth round at Carnival City on April 22 was a fluke. It was the biggest upset in heavyweight boxing since Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson just over a decade earlier.
If Lewis sincerely believes he was stopped by “a lucky punch” there is no way that he will be able to beat Rahman in the return. A deluded fighter is a losing fighter; Lewis also claimed the referee counted too fast when giving him his 10 count.
South African heavyweight hopeful Corrie Sanders is in line for a title shot against the winner. Who would he prefer to face? “Lewis,” says Sanders. “He’s easier to hit. Rahman is a very shrewd boxer. He knows his way around the ring and can take a big punch. While I, like most, think that Lewis will stop Rahman in the early rounds, if it goes past the five-round mark, Rahman could take it again.”
Rahman has his own mountain to climb. Unlike Lewis who has a pedigreed amateur career climaxing with the 1988 Olympic gold medal, Rahman had just 10 amateur bouts before turning pro. He never had the guidance and grooming offered Lewis.
He never had the luxury of being able to turn down $1-million to enter the paid ranks ahead of the Olympics. He never received a payday of $1-million or more until he faced Lewis. Rahman, one of eight brothers and three sisters, had to pull himself up by his boot-straps and that’s what he’s done.
He knows he’ll be the underdog again next week, but that doesn’t faze him. He knows if he loses, everything Lewis has been saying about him being a lucky chump will be regarded as true. He also knows if he wins, he will finally get the respect he deserves.
Rahman’s challenge is to stand up and be counted. Instead of defending himself against the horde of excuses for why Lewis lost, he needs to make everybody turn around and say why he won.
Lewis’s preparations were dealt a blow with week when the former champion split from his manager since 1989, Frank Maloney.
Speaking from his training camp in Pennsylvania, Lewis said he had taken a strictly “business decision”. Lewis said: “You do realise Frank was working for Frank Warren. It is about conflict of interests. I’ve reached a point where I am self-managed.”
Maloney might seek compensation of up to $1-million.