Lewis Is Far From Smashing : Boxing: But after a slow start, he stops Bruno in seventh to retain WBC championship.

The Great Brit Hope remained just that early today, a hope to fulfill the glorious promise that the long-suffering boxing faithful in his native United Kingdom believe Lennox Lewis possesses but have not seen in almost a year. Could it have been a mirage? Riddick Bowe and Tommy Morrison no doubt think so, and, for that matter, so probably did Frank Bruno until the seventh round.

A little more than a minute had elapsed in that round when Lewis connected with his only substantial punch of the night, a left hook, which he insisted later, no matter how it might have appeared to the crowd of 25,784 at Cardiff Arms Park, was not borne out of desperation.

But even if Bruno did not have him on the ropes at that particular moment, Lewis had to confess later that he took considerably more punishment than he anticipated through the first six rounds. So he seized the opportunity when he finally had one, following the left hook with a flurry of punches to the head that compelled referee Mickey Vann to stop the fight 1 minute 12 seconds into the seventh.

Lewis’ suspicion that he was not quite overwhelming his opponent was confirmed when the judges revealed cards. Tony Castellano and Jerry Roth, both of Las Vegas, scored the fight 57-57. Adrian Morgan, a Welshman, scored it 59-55 for Bruno.

British reporters will be harsh because they, deserting their one-time pet, Bruno, almost unanimously predicted a walkover for the 28-year-old Lewis, who was 23-0 before the fight with 20 knockouts. But he will not be able to argue with them because even he was unimpressed. “Pretty average,” he called his performance.

Nevertheless, it enabled him to retain his World Boxing Council championship belt, the one Bowe, the World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation champion, thought so little of he dumped it into a trash can, and earned him another lucrative payday. Promoter Bob Arum said before the fight that Lewis will meet Morrison on March 5 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

As for Bruno, a three-time loser in heavyweight title fights after earlier falling to Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson and 36-4 overall, he said he will discuss his future with his wife. It is not likely that Bruno, who will turn 32 next month, will continue in the ring, particularly considering that he has had such a successful career out of it.

A star of stage and the small screen, he is one of Great Britain’s most beloved subjects. That has made it even more difficult for Lewis to win favor with anyone outside the boxing crowd in his native country, which he returned to four years ago after spending most of his formative years in Canada.

“Every time on the street, people would come up and praise me,” Lewis said last week, “and then they’d say, ‘When are you going to fight Frank Bruno?’ ”

When the fight finally was arranged, promoters billed it as the first time since Marquis of Queensbury rules were established in 1892 that two British heavyweights have fought for the world championship.

There was, however, no question which fighter the fans considered the True Brit.

Bruno is so popular in London that Lewis insisted the fight be held in Cardiff, but that made little difference as the fans at the rugby stadium were clearly in the challenger’s corner.

The crowd was surprisingly large considering that the main event did not begin until 1:02 a.m. local time to accommodate U.S. television and that the weather forecast for that time was 40 degrees and rain.

The promoters said the fight would have to be postponed for 24 hours if the forecast was correct because the canopy over the ring did not protect the canvas from the elements, and it appeared as if they would have to put contingency plans into action when rain began to fall 20 minutes before midnight.

In progress was a bout between junior-welterweights, but it turned into a farce when they began slipping on the wet canvas. The only two Brits who could have remained upright in those conditions are Torvill and Dean.

But minutes after the remainder of the undercard was canceled and a tarp placed over the canvas, the rain ceased. Still, to make sure the soles of his boots would remain dry, Bruno wore plastic hotel laundry bags over them as he made his entrance to the ring. A man who has worn a dress on stage while playing the female lead in “Romeo and Juliet” does not worry about dignity in times like these.

Lewis, meantime, entered the ring covered from head to toe and said later he was cold in the early going. His handlers wrapped him in a blanket between rounds.

Lewis won the first round, but Bruno forced the action in the next four, landing solid left jabs, an occasional left hook and one hard right in the third that the champion admitted later got his attention.

Bruno, who, at 238, was nine pounds heavier than Lewis, seemed to slow a bit in the sixth, but the challenger was still moving forward, stalking his prey into the corner a round later, when the left hook connected.

“He thought he had me,” Lewis said. “But, actually, I just lost my footing. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to let him see my left hook.’ ”

Bruno had seen this before. For all practical purposes, it was one punch that ended his title hopes against Witherspoon in 11 rounds and Tyson in five.

“Frank has no chin,” London promoter Mickey Duff said. “Once he gets hit clean, he goes.”