Did Akinwande floor Lennox Lewis ?

if my memory serves me right i think there was an alleged slip,and i thought at the time it was a knockdown.

 

I seem to remember it being a push that was incorrectly ruled a slip.

 

For all the time I spent watching boxing in the 90's, I never got around to seeing Henry Akinwande fight. His record looks pretty good on boxrec, but I can't speak intelligently about him, given that I've never seen perform.

Can anyone tell me if he was a good fighter or not?

 

He pushed down on the back of Lewis`s head and kneck with his forearm causing Lewis to bend at the knees, it was only the ludicrious Lederman who believed it should be called as a knockdown because Lewis`s glove touched the canvas, in reality it was a foul. There was also a stumbling wrestle to the floor in that fight but that wasnt a kd either.

 

completely outboxed McCall until the last round when Oliver landed a shot for the first time and ko`d him sickeningly.

Henry outclassed Timo Hoffman very nicely yet one corrupt german judge had Hoffman winning, Henry won so big that the German crowd boo`d that judges score.

 

I seem to recall a decent right hand which probably should have been given as a knockdown...proving that Lewis could get up off the deck to win. :good

 

I remember Akinwande landing a short right hand, Lewis being close and off balance for a split second staggered (bent knees) but got right up and never touched the canvas.

However i'm not sure at all if i remember it correct. It would be cool if someone could say when it happened. Wasn't it in the 3rd?

 

It was the 3rd round. I've got a copy of this fight.

Akinwande is standing in the corner, bottom-right, with Lewis closing and looking to land something.

Akinwande throws a jab, misses by a mile (almost comically so).

Akinwande throws another jab, this one lands, and he follows up with a straight right.

Lewis already has his guard up over his face (following the landed jab) and starts to duck it, the punch actually sails over the top of his head but Akinwande's forearm clonks him in the forehead, and Henry immediately reaches out and grabs Lewis again (as he had been doing since almost the first round).

With Lewis lent over this just means Akinwande kinda ends up with his arms pressing on Lewis's shoulders and back of his head, and Henry gives him a slight push down for good measure. On the replay, you can see Lewis's right glove dust the canvas.

Akinwande moves out of the corner, Lewis straightens up, and they both carry on as if nothing had happened. It's not even ruled a slip, there's no reaction from the ref, the boxers, the corners or even the crowd. You'd expect someone to be protesting if it was a missed knockdown but no-one reacts.

Except for two guys. One of the judges accredited Akinwande with a KD for that round. And Lederman was loudly complained it wasn't called.

As said though, if this was an official knockdown then it would mean Lewis has not only survived a knockdown but won the fight as well, which would be an inconvenient truth for some critics so better to let it lie

It's an awkard moment. Akinwande looked really taken aback when Lewis came out winging hooks from the first bell, and was both throwing wide panicky shots and also grabbing after virtually every punch even when he didn't need to.

Made this moment need a few replays to work out. Surprising to see the punch didn't even land!
Wish I could put up a video clip here.

 

I have re-watched the relevant moments and compiled a short video clip for those who don't have the fight. Hopefully YouTube won't ban my account again.

[YT]6dHHHfwxq4k[/YT]

I think it's very hard to tell. Akinwande doesn't land a punch (so if it's a knockdown, it's not a legal one), but he does hit Lewis with his wrist or forearm, high on the head after which he pushes him. Lewis' right glove did hit the canvas clearly. It is a strange situation but considering no legal punch landed, i wouldn't consider it a knockdown.

 

Cheers! Looks like my memory was mostly right. Bit more reaction than I thought though, especially from the commentators. But it's very telling that Akinwande in particular wasn't protesting a knockdown.

Akinwande threw that right practically palm-first!

Lewis has his guard up right in front of his face and as said Akinwande's intended punch didn't actually land, more his forearm, right on top of Lewis's head. Combined with Akinwande's failed grab/push, yeah, it's a messy one.

Seemed like, after most of his punch missed (technically all of it), he curled his arm around Lewis's head and leant on him, leading to Lewis's glove brushing the canvas. Referee was right there (good positioning) and didn't call it.

All a bit messy. Lederman is way off because it wasn't a legal punch, it was a forearm. This ain't the WWE!

 

Akinwande only seemed to have one thing on his mind: getting out of the ring and as fast as possible without getting hurt. He really wanted out of there. A bit of a waste.

 

lennoxs glove hit the canvass.....thus being called a knockdown