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'He's No. 1 in my book' Lewis respects skills Grant brings to the ring
Posted: Tuesday April 25, 2000 10:31 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Michael Grant hopes to put some hard lessons learned in his last fight to good use when he challenges heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. "I learned not to take people for granted," the unbeaten challenger said. "I was thinking about what I was going to do next." At the end of the first round against Andrew Golota Nov. 20, it didn't appear that Grant would next be fighting Lewis Saturday night in Madison Square Garden. Grant was knocked down twice and was badly hurt after the first round, but he hung tough, scored a knockdown in the 10th round and won when Golota quit. Another lesson learned was to keep his hands up. They weren't when Grant got nailed by a tremendous right that put him down the first time. "We've been working on it [keeping his hands high] basically the entire camp," said Grant, who sparred two rounds with Corey Sanders Tuesday at The Theater in the Garden complex. "If I didn't keep my hands up, Don Turner [his trainer] would start a round over or he would add a round. The comeback victory gave the 6-foot-7 Grant a 31-0 record, with 22 knockouts and underscored his will to win. Although the 6-5 Lewis was stopped in the second round after being knocked down by a thunderous right to the jaw by Oliver McCall Sept. 24, 1994, he also has proven himself tough in tough situations. He was in deep trouble in the first two rounds against Shannon Briggs, but he fought back to stop Briggs in the fifth round March 28, 1998. "I'm expecting a very tough fight," said Emanuel Steward, Lewis' trainer. "It's the first time I've seen two guys of this size who have talent, and have dealt with adversity and shown they can weather the storm." As for the fact that Golota almost beat Grant but was stopped by Lewis in the first round Oct. 4, 1997, Lewis said, "I don't draw any conclusions from that." To add that comparing fights can be futile, Grant noted that he stopped Sanders in the second round in 1996, but Golota had to go the full 10 rounds to beat Sanders in 1998. Lewis (35-1, 27 knockouts) has a definite edge in big-fight experience and is favored to retain the WBC and IBF titles. "Whether people are giving me a chance to win this fight or not is irrelevant," Grant said. "They're not fighting." A federal judge has ruled Lewis cannot keep the WBA title because when he signed for a rematch against Evander Holyfield, he agreed that if he won he would make a mandatory defense against the highest available WBA contender and that he breached the contract by signing to fight Grant. The WBA ranks John Ruiz and Holyfield 1-2, respectively, while Grant is ranked No. 5. Grant is ranked second behind Ruiz by the WBC and No. 2 by the IBF behind David Tua. "He's No. 1 in my book," Lewis said of Grant. "He's been active. He hasn't been sitting about waiting." For Turner, it will be the fourth time he has worked in the corner of a man fighting Lewis. He was there when 6-7 Henry Akinwande was disqualified in the fifth round for constantly holding and he was there the two Holyfield-Lewis bouts - a controversial draw and a Lewis victory. Turner was asked what made him think he was backing a winner this time. "I've got a different guy this time," he said. "He thinks he has the perfect solution here," Steward said. "He has a guy who's not afraid of Lennox and a guy who is physically bigger." Grant is expected to weigh about 250 pounds when he weighs in officially Thursday, while Lewis is expected to weigh in the 240s. The highest combined weight for a championship fight is 488 3/4, when Primo Carnera (259 1/2) outpointed Paolino Uzcudun (229 1/4) Oct. 22, 1933. The fight will be the fourth match on a pay-per-view (TVKO) show that begins at 9 p.m. EDT. The main event is expected to start between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m.
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