Former champ hopes to turn tables … again

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

Lennox Lewis is always a little tougher the second time around.

He may have lost to Oliver McCall in 1994, but he took the rematch three years later in decisive fashion.

He may have been held to a draw by Evander Holyfield early in 1999, but he was a convincing winner in that rematch a few months later.

And now he comes to Hasim Rahman, the only other fighter who has blemished his record. Rahman surprised Lewis by connecting with a powerful right hand in the fifth round of their fight last April in South Africa, and the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation heavyweight titles changed hands in the process.

This rematch -- Saturday in the Mandalay Bay Events Center -- provides Lewis with yet another opportunity to not only turn the tables on a previous conqueror, but reestablish himself as the preeminent heavyweight of his generation.

"I don't have any assurances, but I believe I learn from my mistakes," Lewis said of his knack for righting previous wrongs.

What he's doing this time that he says he didn't the first time around: Take Rahman seriously.

"You can tell I was a bit lackadaisical," he said of the bout in Johannesburg. "I realize now I can't walk in the ring like I did then. This fight I'm looking at him with more intensity.

"I went to training camp a little earlier. I'm more focused."

At 36 years old and with 12 years and 41 professional fights under his belt, Lewis comes by his confidence earnestly. He has fought a number of superb opponents -- Razor Ruddock, Tommy Morrison, Ray Mercer, Andrew Golota, Michael Grant, Frans Botha and David Tua among them -- and has never not been able to solve a rival, especially after being given a second chance as he proved with McCall and Holyfield.

"Whatever Rahman brings, I can answer it," he said Wednesday. "I've seen it all before.

"I've been in this game a long time and I've learned to adjust when I had to."

Lewis is 38-2-1 with 29 knockouts and has more or less sat atop the heavyweight division since 1993. He's a minus 340 betting favorite in the Mandalay Bay sports book for his rematch with Rahman, who is 35-2 with 29 KOs and a plus 280 underdog.

It's a minus 120 that the fight will go its scheduled 12 rounds, and a minus 110 that it will not.

"He's a fighter's fighter and a champion's champion," said promoter Don King, who is encouraging Lewis to respond to Rahman's taunts as the promotion winds through its final days.

"He's helping in the promotion and taking no trash," King added.

The bad blood that exists between the fighters has certainly surfaced in recent days, with Rahman letting it be known that he was dissatisfied to arrive at Mandalay Bay and find himself on the 61st floor while Lewis and his entourage were residing on the 62nd. That triviality was corrected and both men are now on the top floor, albeit protected from bumping into each other by security measures.

"I know he's upset about me getting the penthouse," Lewis said with a certain glee.

As for Rahman's claim that he has "gotten under Lennox's skin," Lewis scoffs.

"He's been saying that, but I don't understand that kind of talk," Lewis said. "I'm an expert on getting under other fighters' skins. I'm thick skinned."

That said, "We can't stay in the same room (because) we'd definitely get into a fight," Lewis volunteered. "We've both got an attitude."

As for King spurring him on to juice up the promotion (and build ticket and pay-per-view sales), Lewis takes it in stride. "I'm just doing my part," he said. "(Rahman) can't do all the work."

As a side benefit to their intermittent squabbles -- which include a shoving session at summer press conference and an impromptu wrestling match on an ESPN set -- Lewis comes across as genuinely appreciative.

"I don't really dislike (Rahman)," he said. "He's really motivated me, and I want to thank him for that."

That fifth-round knockout punch Rahman delivered last April 26 is a motivational tool as well, as far as the dethroned champion is concerned.

"I was coming off the ropes and my body was turned to the side," Lewis said. "Anybody that would have thrown a punch would have knocked me out.

"(But) I know in this fight I won't get hit like that again."

If he does and he loses a second time, it will be a first.