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A boxing clinic Lewis wins one-sided contest against Tua
LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Size matters. Lennox Lewis used his height and reach to perfection for 12 rounds, taking the fight out of feisty David Tua and coasting to a unanimous decision to retain his WBC and IBF heavyweight titles tonight at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The 6-5 Lewis toyed with the 5-10 Tua, who vowed a knockout of the taller and stronger fighter but was unable to penetrate the British champion's defense at any point in the bout. "You got to come with more than a power left hook to beat Lennox Lewis. You come into war, you got to bring your whole arsenal, not just a left hook and a haircut," Lewis said, referring to Tua's bizarre hairdo. The judges' scorecards read 118-110, 119-109 and 117-111 as Chuck Giampa, Dave Moretti and Jerry Roth agreed that Tua was outclassed from the opening to closing bell. "He has never seen a boxer like Lennox Lewis. It is different when you are in the ring with me," Lewis said. "You can say what you want to accomplish, but it is different when you try to execute it in the ring." Lewis (38-1-1, 29 KOs) made his third successful defense since unifying the title with a 12-round decision victory over Evander Holyfield on November 13, 1999. That bout marked the last time Lewis was forced to go the distance. Tua (37-2) took his first loss since dropping a controversial decision to Ike Ibeabuchi on June 7, 1997. "No excuses whatsoever tonight," Tua said before hinting that he had aggravated a rib injury suffered in training camp during the second round. "Lennox Lewis is a great champion. I did the best I could, things didn't work out the best for me. That's the way it goes." An avid chess fan, Lewis did not seem to mind taking the fight as it came to him in a slow, plodding manner that had the bloodthirsty crowd booing during several lapses in the action. In a rare heavyweight title bout in which neither fighter was rocked during any of the brief and oftentimes awkward exchanges, Lewis proved the more patient and ultimately busier of the two combatants. "I watched tape on him," Lewis said. "He doesn't throw a right hand. I wasn't really worried about his right hand, just the left hook. The first round, I felt his left hook and I realized, 'Boy, what are you talking about? That is not a power left hook.' I didn't think there was too much power behind it." He peppered the diminutive Tua with a series of quick jabs in virtually every round after the fourth and did not land any big blows until the 11th when Tua, his left eye clearly swollen due to the accumulation of blows, was an easier target. Lewis opened the penultimate round with a steady dose of jabs before landing a left-right-left combination to the head and four more jabs, leaving Tua befuddled and without the stomach for a late rally. Perhaps trying to entertain the disinterested crowd, Lewis danced his way through most of the 12th as Tua continued to stalk to no avail, never really landing his lethal left hook with any purpose. Lewis raised his hands at the final bell and walked triumphantly to his corner. "One thing David prides himself is not making any excuses," Dan Gossen, Tua's trainer said. "Obviously we saw from the second round on that we saw a different David Tua. There is no excuses with us, (but) in the second round (trainers) Ronnie (Shields) and Kevin (Barry) told me that David (hurt his ribs)." With a startling 15-inch reach advantage, Lewis gave Tua very little hope from the outset, although the "Samoan Warrior" did give the crowd a lift in the third and fourth rounds when he was on the attack.
© 2003 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP
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