Confidence factor

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

Title fight

Who: Lennox Lewis (37-1-1, 29 KOs) vs. David Tua (37-1, 32 KOS)

When: Saturday

Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center

At stake: Lewis' heavyweight championship

TV: TVKO pay per view; closed-circuit television

The swagger was definitely still there even if his timepiece was lost.

Arriving a full hour late for an open workout that attracted some 300 fans and a horde of media, Lennox Lewis strode into the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Tuesday afternoon to a smattering of applause.

His quickened gait aside, he wasn't about to be hurried.

Lewis, who will defend his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight titles when he faces David Tua at the same site Saturday night, fits the championship mold. He's confident and strong, confident enough to be looking past Tua to a prospective fight with Mike Tyson and strong enough to believe Tua can't possibly upset him.

"Tua's not going to make his name off of me," Lewis declared. "I'm at the top of my game and I'm going to stay there."

Bettors agree, as Lewis is a minus 330 favorite in the sports book at Mandalay Bay. Tua is a plus 270 underdog.

The primary round prop is seven, with a minus 130 that it will go and even that it won't.

The pay-per-view fight, which is expected to attract a capacity crowd of 12,000, is worth $8 million to the Englishman.

Interestingly, among those who waited to see him go through a casual workout was a "spy" from the Tyson camp, assistant trainer Stacey McKinley. Along the same lines, Tyson himself stopped in to watch Lewis spar a week ago in New York.

"I'm tired of talking about it," Lewis said of facing Tyson, which is contingent on the champion defeating Tua. "But I know it's a big fight that's out there and people want to see it.

"It could be the biggest fight of the era. It would certainly generate a lot of money."

Lewis, 35, is 37-1-1 with 29 knockouts and aside from a 2 1/2-year stretch that ended in early 1997 and was bracketed by fights with Oliver McCall, he has been the heavyweight champion since 1993. That durability, on top of a recent run of fights that gives him a certain sense of invincibility, has positioned Lewis to eventually be regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight champions ever.

Of course he could lose to Tua and then everything, including the fight with Tyson, would swirl down the drain.

"If I stick my chin out, I could get caught," he admitted. "But I'm going to make sure I'm not complacent.

"I'll be focused. I'm (also) going to show Tua a different style."

Lewis' trainer, the venerable Emanuel Steward, likes his man's conditioning for this fight and his evolving presence within the sport.

"Aside from being a vastly improved fighter, Lennox is a different person now," Steward said. "He's a little more relaxed. He's grown into being an accomplished champion."

With all this talk of a Tyson fight potentially clouding Lewis' mind, it may be up to Steward to keep the champion on an even keel. Toward that end, he's quick to point out Tua's pluses.

"He's very dangerous," Steward said. "He's legit. He's capable of winning the fight with one punch."

Conversely, so is Lewis.

"I think people underestimate Lennox's punching power," Steward said. "He's become a big hitter."

As a result of that punching power, Lewis has fought fewer than four full rounds this year. In April he put Michael Grant down four times en route to a second-round stoppage in New York, and in August he sent Frans Botha sprawling through the ropes in the second round to bring a quick end to that fight in London.

Factor in two fights with Evander Holyfield and separate bouts with Razor Ruddock, Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno, Tommy Morrison, Ray Mercer, Henry Akinwande and Andrew Golota, and Lewis brings a wealth of experience with him into the fight with Tua.

But the mandatory challenger, while facing a lesser brand of competition, is exceedingly strong and is 37-1 with 32 KOs.

At an earlier public workout Tuesday that drew a smaller crowd, Tua was his usual accessible, entertaining self. He's reveling in the opportunity to take on a champion who may be looking past this fight to a more lucrative one.

"Lennox could be just one punch away from losing his title," warned Steward.

Nonsense, Lewis maintains.

"Tua only has one thing," he said. "He's got power. But I've got power and quickness and mobility. I don't think he has enough to beat me."

Tyson and his reps, who appear to be shadowing Lewis, would seem to agree.

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