What the hell was Lewis trying to do ? Why was he smiling ? He walked back into the ropes under his own volition, turned sideways - as if he was about to start a Michael Jackson moonwalk - goofy grin, ridiculous foot position, and then let Rahman come straight in and whack him !?! :huh
Who gives a **** ? Me. Lewis destroyed Rahman in a rematch, making them even. Yeah, and the KO of Rahman is a good one. The rematch matters to you, but the first fight doesn't ? OK, seems like a biased standpoint. I think both fights matter, or maybe no fights matter. The second fight Lewis sets Rahman up with the left, keeps him at bay for a few rounds, measures him with a quick left, then catches him with a perfect shot, fast and out of nowhere. But what the hell was he doing in the first fight ? He seemed to invite Rahman in, stumbling about smiling and standing sideways. Rahman didn't need to set up anything, didn't need to fool Lewis, he just bored in and took advantage of Lewis's behaviour, which is quite inexplicable behaviour for a great fighter. Lewis offered no defense and showed no inelligence, I think it's strange. Maybe someone knows why.
Because he was too full of self confidence after never having really been bested by a fighter for such a long period and he was quite stupid in "daring" Rahman to KO him and attempting to make him look foolish, while the joke was on himself. I think this was one of Lewis' weaknesses: macho behaviour after getting tagged. Not always, of course. When Briggs staggered him, he covered up and held on like he should've. But a few times when Tua hit him, he put his hands down and challenged him.
Yeah, he seemed to be strolling about like Rahman couldn't hurt him, or couldn't hit him. But Rahman had already hit him a few good ones, esp. a hard right about a minute earlier that had spun Lewis off balance. I dunno if Lewis was trying some sort of "Jersey Joe" fancy footwork here that he couldn't quite pull off (Lewis was always clumsy a bit on his feet), or if he was gonna try "rope-a-dope", or maybe he just didn't know what he was doing - the high altitude air getting to him like laughing gas ? - but it was some real dumb amateurish ****. Still, some guys here rate him in the TOP THREE HEAVYWEIGHTS OF ALL-TIME, so I guess it's considered highly forgivable stuff, whatever happened.
Lewis lost respect for the game a bit, and duly got knocked down a peg or two. Rather than getting to South Africa early to adjust to the altitude; he was more interested in hanging out with new buddies (in Clooney, Pitt and Co), filming for Oceans 11. The defeat thankfully did seem to refocus Lewis for his career Finales.
To be honest, I'm not sure he was still focused in his final fight. Sure, he was old and rusty, 37 when he fought Klitschko, but I think he was too heavy and fought a real scruffy fight too. He'd been lined up to fight Kirk Johnson, and I was one of the few who was actually saying Johnson stands a great chance of doing a Rahman on him. He DID look fully focused and impressive in the Rahman rematch though, and cant really fault him in taking apart what was left of Tyson either.
I would concede he did not look right against Klitschko, hence his retirement. I can see where you are coming from with a potential Johnson upset, but I do not think it would of happened. I always (even pre LewisI) considered Rahman above Johnson ability wise. Kirk always had potential, but Rahman once in a while actually showed his ability not just his potential. Johnson seemed to have a few demons that meant he never could truly show what he had.
He was over-confident and under-trained. He allowed Rahman to get shots off first when all he had to do was 'be first'. Just a bad day at the office.
Meh, it was late in his career and since when was Lewis used to tooth and nail struggles? He just got over confident, and the shot that put him down was a nasty one... Turned his head just right to spark him.
I've said this often here before, but I was not happy with the potential Lewis-Johnson bout in '03. I wasn't enthused about Johnson in the first place, but after his awful effort against Ruiz I thought it was all a big waste of time for Lewis.