The creation of historical past will be as forgettable as it’s memorable. On April 22, 2001, in Carnival Metropolis, South Africa, American heavyweight Hasim Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis within the fifth spherical to win the WBC, IBF, and IBO heavyweight championships. Lewis vs Rahman I used to be devoid of nice motion and is notable strictly for Lewis’ surprising unseating as heavyweight king, which appeared to substantiate the doubts of those that couldn’t neglect when he had been shocked in comparable style by Oliver McCall in 1994. For Rahman, it was the triumphant fruits of a journey that had taken him from the drug-laden initiatives of Baltimore to the apex of the heavyweight division—one nice punch that perpetually altered his destiny.
Given the turbulent monitor of his life, that Rahman was even capable of create a profitable boxing profession is a testomony to his resolve. As soon as an enforcer for drug sellers, he had survived a number of shootings and a horrific automotive crash earlier than beginning to field at age 20. He compiled a 34-2 skilled file and had just lately defeated Frankie Swindell and Corrie Sanders to earn his shot at Lewis. The champion was coming off current wins in opposition to David Tua and Francois Botha, however some suspected focus was missing in his preparation on account of his current involvement with the filming of the Hollywood film Ocean’s Eleven. His lackluster efficiency would validate these suspicions.
From the opening bell, Lewis, combating at 253 lbs, was clearly not sharp, and appeared fatigued, throwing fewer punches per spherical than normal and jabbing ineffectively. Rahman, displaying little trepidation, boxed well though with an apparent warning employed to stop being victimized by Lewis’ jab and heavy proper hand. A disparity of expertise was apparent between the 2 males, however the champion couldn’t take full benefit. Initially of the fourth around the tempo picked up as each males began to field extra aggressively and throw heavier punches. However Lewis, who demonstrated somewhat extra fireplace on this sequence, couldn’t keep the momentum and because the motion regressed it grew to become apparent that the longer the battle went, the extra prone the champion can be to getting caught by one arduous shot.
That shot got here within the very subsequent spherical. Rahman answered the bell visibly extra energized than Lewis, and halfway by means of the spherical tagged the champion with a tough proper. At this Lewis smiled, presumably to mock the challenger, however in doing so gave himself away, since fighters usually smile to disguise ache or alarm. Spurred on, Rahman chased Lewis to the ropes, having turn out to be the battle’s basic. Nonetheless smiling, a gassed Lewis then dropped his arms as Rahman appeared to again off. Abruptly, the challenger shifted route, pressured Lewis again to the ropes, and fired. Hammered by a thunderous proper hand, Lewis toppled to the canvas. He by no means got here near beating the depend. With one devastating shot, his world was upended, his title misplaced.
HBO’s Jim Lampley punctuated the knockout by invoking Lewis’ stunning 1994 loss to Oliver McCall and Mike Tyson’s 1990 defeat to Buster Douglas, comparable situations through which the champion was overwhelmed by his personal lack of focus. To not be outdone, George Foreman started to awkwardly sing “America the Lovely,” clearly excited that boxing followers stateside had a local son again on the division’s apex. Rahman, euphoric at having conquered his closely favoured opponent, raised his arms in triumph as his nook went wild and a shocked and dazed Lewis was relegated to his stool the place the medical help he acquired couldn’t probably deal with the harm finished to his ego.
A retired Lewis would later declare in an interview with British boxing present Ringside that “every part wasn’t aligned for me that day.” He referred to as Rahman’s shattering punch “a fortunate shot,” contrasting it together with his extra calculated knockout of The Rock of their rematch later that yr, which, to his credit score, was top-of-the-line heavyweight knockouts of the last decade. Lewis was unwilling to afford Rahman a lot reward, emphasizing his personal inadequacy quite than the efforts of his opponent.
Whereas Lewis’ opinions right here could be justified, his efficiency on this battle stays one of many blackest marks on his file. An important expertise whose fusion of energy and boxing acumen made him the very best heavyweight of his era, Lewis nonetheless was shocked by lesser lights like Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, and pushed to the sting of defeat by the gutsy Vitali Klitschko. Regardless of his dominance and excessive standing, Lewis will perpetually be remembered for these few situations through which poor focus and a prone chin made him the prey of lesser fighters.
However maybe that is too harsh an evaluation. Profitable the heavyweight championship after which defending it efficiently requires a resolve that borders on the superhuman. That Lewis solely misplaced twice professionally, and avenged each defeats, is a testomony to each his will and skill. Whereas really nice champions ought to by no means lose so ignominiously, the sheer heavy-handedness of heavyweight boxing may end up in fast and unexpected terminations, as one punch can alter far more than the course of a battle. For Rahman, one punch earned him the heavyweight title within the final transcending of previous circumstances, whereas for Lewis, it served as probably the most forgettable second of his in any other case nice profession. — Eliott McCormick
