I thought Lewis was gonna lose in the rematch with Rahman

Lewis...not in the way he did but I was very very confident he would win it.

 

Thoughts understandable. I was a youngn at the time so I wasn't that big in boxing yet. I was aware of most of what happened, big on all sports. I didn't have anyone picked though... I probably figured Lewis would win the rematch.

 

I predicted Lewis would win by decision. You know, box more cautiously being aware of Rahman's right. I didn't expect Lewis to knock him out.

 

My head told me Lewis would win, a couple of days before the fight though I dreamd Rahman knockd him out again.
I too thought Lewis would be very cautious but he did th right thing in getting Rahman out more quickly, I think that did something toward resetting people's perception's of th first fight. It's a knock against his professionalism that he ever lost that fight.

 

I like the British broadcasting commentary on this fight. Jim Watts (or who was it?) went absolutely crazy during the knockout. Same with the Tyson fight.

 

It was hardly a 'gimme' for Lewis, that's for sure.

Even though one always got the impression the knockout of Lewis had an element of good fortune about it, and even though it was obvious Rahman wasn't really on Lewis' level, the first fight had a lot of people wondering what would happen in the rematch.

Sometimes an inferior fighter just has something over a superior one (like Barkley seemed to have over Hearns) and Rahman's tail was up. He had the confidence to talk a lot of trash and get under Lewis' skin.

I saw the fight as basically a 50/50, leaning towards Lewis because he had the superior quality, but fighting the guy who just knocked you out cold is always difficult.

 

I thought it would be an even fight until the first round, when it became apparent that Rahman didn't have a strategy. In the first fight he tried to wear Lewis down to the body, jab when Lewis jabbed and counter-punch, all VERY good tactics to use against Lennox. In the second fight, he was doing what most of Lewis's opponents tried to do since the McCall fight: look for that "one big punch". No-one ever found it and it was clear that someone of Rahman's abilities wasn't going to find it against a focused Lewis in a 100 rounds.

 

I'd say Rahman under estimated Lennox in the return.

 

Just reading in Thomas Hausers book about the court case preceeding the rematch, amazing we got the fight at all, very complicated stuff

 

Yeah, I actually have written down somewhere some of the original plans Don King had for Rahman rather than a Lewis rematch. A defence in China against Brian Nielsen I think was one option for example.

I've never seen the British version, just HBO. I'd love to see that somewhere.

Me, I was backing Lewis natch but I was nervous. Those picking Rahman also had good reason to point out his confidence during the build-up. But Lewis bottled up his feelings instead and saved it for the ring.

I remember my Dad and I having a damn good laugh at the picture in the paper the next day, of Rahman lying prone 'wearing' the Don King crown. That's such an iconic picture for someone like Lewis that refused to play King's game for his whole career.

 

It was David Izon in China, but it was a real convoluted affair, takes up about 5 chapters in Hausers book

 

Blimey. What's the book called?

 

I was fairly nervous until the first bell.