Lewis Prefers a Rematch

Lennox Lewis played the man-about-town role to the hilt in the week leading up to his heavyweight championship defense against Vitali Klitschko on June 21.

He hit the talk-show circuit, rubbed elbows with celebrities and threw out the first pitch at a Dodger game, all to the cheers of an adoring, if curious, public.

But when the fight was stopped after the sixth round because of a deep cut above Klitschko’s left eye, the adulation morphed into a cascade of boos, the Staples Center crowd turning on Lewis, who escaped with his World Boxing Council title despite trailing on all three judges’ scorecards.

Still, Lewis said Wednesday that he harbors no ill will toward Southland fight fans, even with the boos still echoing in his head, that he would “love” to fight here again and next prefers a rematch with Klitschko more than facing World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr., with whom he already has had informal discussions.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t hold it against anybody. This is just crowd mentality,” Lewis said on a conference call of his sinking L.A. approval rating. “A lot of people are just disappointed that boy, it was a good fight they were seeing. All of a sudden it got stopped, you know? They wanted to see a knockout.

“Because I wasn’t boxing for the point aspect to see who was ahead on points. I was on [him] from the get-go. That fight wasn’t going the distance. And the next one’s not going the distance either.”

Lewis (41-2-1, 32 knockouts) has two dates in mind for his next fight -- Nov. 8 and Dec. 6. But because of the severity of Klitschko’s injury, Lewis’ camp wants an independent doctor to examine him to verify that he would be ready, lest the parties agree to a bout and then Klitschko decides to pull out late in training.

Klitschko, who was born in Ukraine and lives in Los Angeles, won over the crowd with his effort, especially with the crimson mask he wore after Lewis’ devastating right to his brow in the third round.

Plus, he easily won the first two rounds, stunning Lewis in the second. Not that Lewis was all that impressed, not even 11 days later.

“I believe that he definitely won the first two rounds,” Lewis said. “But as far as the next four rounds, I was definitely leading and he definitely wouldn’t have made it past the next two rounds.

“I feel the judges were definitely biased in that situation, given the fact that he had a great fan population. This is his hometown I’m boxing in, this is where he keeps his residence, so he’s got a good amount of fans there. If it was switched around where he was in England fighting, people probably would be booing him.”

As far as a timetable for choosing his next opponent and date, Lewis said it first depends on Klitschko’s agreeing to an independent examination of his eye. Jones, a notoriously tough negotiator, lost significant leverage Tuesday when Evander Holyfield bypassed him for a fight against James Toney on Oct. 4 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

“In the near future,” Lewis said. “I’m opting for the rematch. I enjoyed that fight. It was like, it was just a fight. We just went at it.”