Closer Look

Lewis knew it was his night after first round

Mike Tyson threw everything he had at Lennox Lewis in the first ... and it wasn't much. AP

By Evan Kanew, Special to CNNSI.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Mike Tyson eluded a Lennox Lewis jab in the fighters' initial encounter. Tyson jabbed back at the champion, then pressed the action throughout Round 1, his body movement momentarily offering shades of the peek-a-boo, Kid Dynamite of old.

Tyson's punches were imprecise, but when they did connect, Lewis held on defensively. Nearing the first bell, Tyson hit Lewis with his best weapon, a short left hook. On their scorecards, all three ringside judges agreed the action favored the challenger.

Didn't matter. Lewis already knew the night belonged to him.

"I wanted to show him I wasn't scared of him," he said after winning every round that followed, right up to his electrifying eighth-round knockout.

It was during that opening stanza that Lewis' quiet confidence was forged into a steely, bloodthirsty determination. As the first bell sounded, Lewis felt he'd seen the best Tyson would have to offer and stood up to it.

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Lewis's fight was patient, tactical, and powerful. Tyson described it as "wonderful." Lewis out-jabbed, out-slugged and outclassed his nemesis. Lewis did not lose another round on any of the cards, as he connected on 59 percent of his shots, according to CompuBox statistics, landing nearly four punches for every one of Tyson's.

"Lennox broke him down in Round 1 by standing there and fighting with him," said Lewis' trainer Emanuel Steward. "It was a total mismatch. The only time Mike Tyson was in the fight was when the referee was taking point from Lennox."

In the fourth, Lewis lost a point when ref Eddie Cotton ruled that Lewis had pushed Tyson to the canvas on a knockdown that was overruled. (Replays showed that Tyson was buckling from a right hand when Lewis may have helped with a bit of a nudge.) Lewis was also warned for hitting low and using his forearm. After the boxing lesson was over, Lewis explained that he was trying to "punish" the fighter who had boasted of his intentions to kill him, beat his brains and crush his skull, not necessarily in that order. And Lewis clearly enjoyed the task.

This was a striking role-reversal: Lewis, billed as an amicable, chess-playing good guy, using his power behind a masterful jab to torture a rival who was so vicious and vulgar throughout the months leading up to the event. It was Lewis effectively trying to crush Tyson's skull.

"He just fought a wonderful fight," Tyson said as blood dripped from his battered brow. "There's no way I can beat him. He's too big, too strong. I'm just grateful he gave me a shot at the title."

Lewis did give Tyson a shot. But it only lasted three minutes.

CNN sports producer Evan Kanew covered the Tyson-Lewis fight for CNNSI.com.

 

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