|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
A new man Lewis looks to change his public image
By Nick Charles, CNNSI.com LAS VEGAS - - When Lennox Lewis held a rare public workout to hype Saturday night's title defense, he attracted a crowd at New York's Grand Central Station. But it was a reported sighting of Mike Tyson hidden among the onlookers that stole the next morning's headlines. They won't realize what I've done until I'm gone," said Lewis. "That's what usually happens with athletes." Lewis' immediate order of business is to deal with the challenge of David Tua, the stocky Tyson look-alike from Western Samoa. But looming perhaps next on the horizon is the inevitable clash of personalities when Lewis meets Tyson. "Hopefully the majority respects me and wants to follow me and loves me as a boxer and what I stand for," Lewis said. "There's people out there that will always love Tyson and will follow him because they like the train wreck involved with him. You put a train wreck on TV and a lot of people tune in. Simple as that. That's how society is. And I understand that." Lewis is weary of being overshadowed by boxing's bad boy, whose unpredictable jagged edge earns him higher purses and bigger audiences. However the champion who has always counted himself among the most reclusive of celebrities now says he wants to be appreciated. To kick-start a campaign of self-promotion, Lewis recently hired sports agent Leigh Steinberg, a Hollywood player whose firm is best known for representing high-profile NFL stars. The agency's media-savvy handlers want to construct the champion's image to give him more sweeping appeal. And that has meant making the rounds on various television shows such as "Live with Regis" and "The Daily Show."
"I do have to open the book," he acknowledged, "but not that much. But I know people out there want to know who Lennox Lewis is. Definitely want to know how Lennox Lewis ticks. So I have to learn being undisputed champ of the world that, yeah there's a lot of people that want to know me, so I have to open myself up a bit." And that he has done. He gone on national television in the U.S. to talk about his girlfriend and a new underwear line coming out called what else, Lennox Lewis "boxers." "He was always guarded and he chose certain shows he wanted to go on," explained assistant trainer Harold Knight. "So like now he's like gung ho. He wants to go on all the shows. Because not only the boxing public has accepted him worldwide, the people worldwide have accepted him." Despite this publicity push, people close to the heavyweight champion acknowledge that it may be difficult for so elusive a man to suddenly become a breakout, brand-name celebrity. At 35, Lewis must now suddenly tear away the cloak of privacy in which he's wrapped himself for so long. But now that has changed. Says Knight, "He's got the floodgates open, welcoming them in and the real Lennox Lewis is still to be seen. Lewis also understands that while television appearances and calculated self-promotion make him more visible, the only way to truly emerge from the shadow cast by Tyson's notoriety is to beat the man himself.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
