I don't have any footage but I was wondering if anyone could break down and analyze the two fights between Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman. I did see according to box rec, that at the time of both fight stoppages, Lewis was leading 39-37 (3 rounds to 1) in the first fight and 30-27 in the second fight. I am just curious how both matches led to different results while seemingly dominated by Lewis.
The first fight was ugly and sloppy. Rahman prepared better as he arrived in South Africa in advance to try to get used to the altitude. Rahman got cut from a clash of heads. In the 5th, Rahman landed a nice overhand right with seemed to bother Lewis. A little while later, he backed Lewis into the ropes and Lewis smiled at Rahman. Then Rahman laid the boom and stopped Lewis with a monster right hand. The rematch was pretty much all Lewis. Rahman landed some nice jabs in round 1, this round was closer, but Lewis also landed some nice jabs and cut Rahman with a left hand. The fight became increasingly in favor of Lewis as he controlled the distance and tempo. Rahman's trainer, Adrian Davis, not to counter but to "stick his arms out" or something like that. Lewis threw a left hook, right hook combo early in the 4th. It landed, but not that clean, but later on Lewis did it again. Rahman had his arms out like his trainer said. The left hook missed but it was a diversionary tactic and the right hook knocked Rahman silly. It was one of the loudest KO punches you'll hear. Two of my favorite KOs.
Inre: Rahman I this is somewhat inaccurate. Lewis was not doing much to win, and Rahman was able to ddo what he was trying to do and land a big right hand. He wasn't lucky, he was the better fighter that night; and whether it comes down to Lennox slacking in training or not taking Rahman seriously as a contender or Rahman just having one of those "zone" nights (most liekaly a combination of the three), Hasim was the better man that night. Period. Just as Lennox was the better man the second fight.
Lewis looked like **** from round 1 in the first fight. I have it PVR'd from ESPN classic boxing. Lewis was filming Oceans Eleven in the states and arrived in SouthAfrica late and at a career high weight. He didn't even acclimate properly. The pre-fight talk was all about Lewis overlooking Rahman and not training hard. Apparently when Lennox arrived in SA shortly before the fght, he stepped on a scale fully clothed and was at 268lbs, and people were panicking already. There were comparisons of Tyson vs Douglas before this fight. Lewis was throwing bombs from round 1 and missing alot. His balance was **** too. But he was still winning rounds man. Rahman sucks ass and his garbage defence of just standing there with his arms out is ******ed. Every time Lennox threw a jab, it landed. Lennox was in such bad shape taht he looked tired in round 2. Rahman worked his body in clinches which made it even worse. Lewis' chin gets a bad rap from this fight but he showed a decent one. Rahman was sporadically landing solid shots throughout the fight. In round 4 Lewis can no longer keep his hands up because he's too tired. And its not like its a high output fight. Rahman starts landing right hands and at 50 seconds left he lands a big one but Lennox rolls off and takes it well. In round five Rahman starts to back pedal a litle bit. Lewis chases him around with his hands down and at 1:30 Rahmans land a bomb right hand to Lennox's chin. Lewis takes it well and awkwardly follows Rahman around with his hands down while Rahman spins off after landing the right. Rahman turns around and the ref breaks them although they are not really close to each other and says some weird inaudible warning to Rahman who did absolutly nothing wrong. At this point i'm scratching my head thinking this is an episode of the twighlight zone. Lennox keeps following Rahman with his hands down and firing off a jab once in a while. Rahman is backpeddling and sticking his arms out like a douche when lennox gets close. Eventually Rahman bounces off the ropes with a flurry and chases Lennox down who just moves backwards with his hands down but still doesn't ge hit. Now Lewis is looking at Rahman with his hands down and a stupid smirk, and Rahman pops him off with a monster right hand right on the button. Lewis drops like a sack of potatos, doesn't beat the count. Whole fight is a head-scratcher.
Fight One: Lewis was out of shape, unfocused and gasping for air after a couple of rounds. He clearly did not take training seriously, and was clowning around in the ring, and paid for it. By far Lewis's worst performance ever Fight Two: Lewis actually trained and focused properly in the ring. The result is that he outclassed, outboxed and then disposed of Rahman like the chump he was Lewis didn't have the greatest chin ever, but it was dentable. The first fight showed what can happen when you get caught clean by a punch thrown by a 225 man with all 225 pounds behind it. The first fight was merely evidence of how important training and mentality are in boxing, and that a guy who has less talent can beat a vastly superior opponent if he is hungrier and more focused
Lewis took a win for granted in the first fight, did not train much. In the 2nd fight he trained and stayed focused.
