Lewis Is Fighting Mad, Thanks to Rahman

The glass wall, held in place by an elaborate metal contraption at the center of a stage in the Mandalay Bay Events Center, looked like a prop left over from a David Copperfield show.

All that was missing was the magician and his assistant.

Instead, the audience got another maestro of smoke and mirrors, promoter Don King. No levitation here, just elevation as King once again tried to raise a boxing show from mere sporting event to international spectacle.

The wall was to separate champion Hasim Rahman from challenger Lennox Lewis during Thursday’s weigh-in for Saturday’s rematch for the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight titles. With bad blood supposedly between them, each man had his own scale.

“It’s all BS,” King said with a grin.

Or is it?

Having been in the fight game for a dozen years, Lewis is all too familiar with hype that sometimes resembles WWF routines.

Yet leading up to this fight, his chance to avenge a fifth-round knockout by Rahman in April, Lewis, normally thoughtful, low-key and focused, seems to have bought into the hype, acting uncharacteristically emotional and unpredictable.

Although he has supported the rights of homosexuals, Lewis was so angered by Rahman’s use of the term “gay” in reference to Lewis on a TV talk show several months ago, he got into a wrestling match with Rahman which resulted in the two of them smashing a table and rolling around on the floor before being pulled apart unharmed.

In the past, the camera has caught Lewis engaged in a hot game of chess, his passion away from the ring, or calmly analyzing his next opponent.

Lewis chose last week to fire his longtime manager, Frank Maloney. Lewis chose last weekend to disclose he is considering signing with King, who has often been an obstruction in Lewis’ career.

On Wednesday, Rahman, at the final prefight news conference, threw oral jabs at Lewis, perhaps sensing he was getting to him.

When it was mentioned Lewis had tried to get into Evander Holyfield’s head before one of their fights by calling him “a hypocrite” for portraying himself as a religious man while having children out of wedlock, Rahman said of Lewis, “How many babies does Lennox have?”

Lewis is unmarried and has no children, but the deeper insinuation wasn’t lost on him.

Photographers moved in for the traditional face-to-face photos of the combatants, fists clenched, but Lewis would have none of it. He stormed off, leaving the stage to Rahman.

And Rahman used it, screaming, “He’s so scared of me, he’s not going to cooperate with the promotion. I’m not going to hurt him now .”

But has Rahman hurt Lewis in terms of focus and confidence? Has Lewis let this get too personal?

“I don’t really dislike him,” Lewis insists, “but he’s really motivated me.”

Gary Shaw, Lewis’ promoter, agrees, of course.

“Hasim Rahman is absolutely not getting under Lennox’ skin,” said Shaw. “He thinks all the antics and shenanigans are fun. But as far as walking away at the news conference, Lennox doesn’t want to be in a circus. He wants to be in a fight. Lennox has been defending heavyweight titles for 10 years [he first won the European title in 1990 before twice winning the heavyweight crown], while Rahman is a one-punch wonder.”

Thursday’s weigh-in showed Lewis has at least not let all of the distractions affect his training routine. He came in at 246 pounds, seven pounds lighter than he was for the April fight. At 253, Lewis was his heaviest for a fight by three pounds. At 246, he is one pound lighter than he was a year ago for his match against Michael Grant, a match Lewis won on a second-round TKO.

Rahman came in Thursday at 236, one pound lighter than he was for the first Lewis fight.

Colin Hart, now in his 42nd year as a sportswriter in Britain, has criticized Lewis in the past, but Hart doesn’t feel the fighter’s recent actions should be viewed with alarm by Lewis’ supporters.

“He’s been around too long for this to affect him,” Hart said. “If anything, I think you may see some anger from Lewis on Saturday.”

Lewis has been demonstrating anger for a while now. The question remains, will he be able to channel it against Rahman, or will he instead be consumed by it?

The Facts

* What: International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight title fight.

* Who: Champion Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis.

* Where: Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.

* When: Saturday.

* TV: HBO pay per view beginning at 6 p.m.