Lennox Lewis regains titles in 4th-round KO of Rahman in Vegas

Jet, Dec 10, 2001

Lennox Lewis regained his heavyweight championship belts almost in the same way he lost them--with a crushing right-hand, knockout punch in the early rounds of the fight.

Lewis put Hasim Rahman on his back in the fourth round during their recent rematch to reclaim the World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight titles at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas. Last April in South Africa, the underdog Rahman took over as heavyweight champ in the fifth round of their title bout (JET, May 7).

"He showed a lot of disrespect, but I've been keeping it all inside," Lewis, 36, said. "I told you he was just a freshman in the game." After the fight, Lewis added that Rahman should change his name from Hasim to "Has Been."

"He hit me with a good shot and I couldn't recover," the 29-year-old Rahman said. "I'm no quitter, and getting knocked out is something that happens in boxing."

The 6-5 Lewis, who weighed 246 pounds (6 1/2 pounds under his career-high weight in the first fight), looked relaxed and confident from the start. The 236-pound Rahman landed several good jabs in the first two rounds, but never got in a punch that shook his opponent.

Lewis (39-2-1) cut Rahman over the left eye in the first round and rattled him with a right hand in the third. Finally, in the next round, Lewis led with his left to move Rahman, and then devastated him with a right hand that dropped Rahman to the canvas.

"I never saw the punch coming," said Rahman (35-3).

Lewis, who expressed he wants to fight Mike Tyson next, became the fourth man to regain the heavyweight championship from the fighter to whom he had lost. The others were Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield.

Each fighter made a minimum of $10 million for the match.