Measuring Stick for Lewis

Seven months ago, this was a one-paragraph story.

Hasim Rahman, a journeyman who couldn’t even beat David Tua, will now try to beat the man who took all the fight and heart out of Tua in two rounds, heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Lewis may beat Rahman quickly with power and aggressiveness. Or he may beat Rahman slowly and agonizingly with superior talent and technical skills. But beat him he will.

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End of story.

Short, complete and so wrong.

In the early morning hours of an April morning in South Africa, Rahman, a 20-1 underdog, fooled all the boxing experts, the oddsmakers and certainly Lewis by knocking out the two-time heavyweight champion with a devastating right hand in the fifth round to win the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council heavyweight titles.

Tonight, they will meet again at the Mandalay Bay Events Center with both titles again on the line. For Lewis, the past few months have not been so pleasant. Some fighters have used such traumatic moments to fuel their quest for revenge, learned from their mistakes and gained vindication.

Others have never recovered, the knockout blow leaving them permanently damaged goods as fighters, physically and mentally.

Which way will Lewis go? Which way will tonight’s fight go?

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It would seem there is no comparison. In a career that spans two decades, Lewis has twice held the heavyweight title and has beaten the good (Evander Holyfield), the bad (Michael Grant), and the ugly in terms of style (Andrew Golota).

Lewis’ 6-foot-5 frame and long arms always had given him an advantage. But, after avenging his unjust draw with Holyfield by beating him in the 1999 rematch, Lewis grew as a fighter.

When he stepped into that South African ring to face Rahman at age 35, Lewis appeared to have finally put it together. His confidence was at an all-time high, his punches in recent fights had been sharp, his combinations smooth and effective, his choice of weapons and tactics solid.

Rahman, on the other hand, seemed to have peaked. After being stopped by Tua and Oleg Maskaev, Rahman’s only option appeared to be beating up other, even less-skilled journeymen in the hopes of luring Lewis into the ring, collecting a big payday and then moving on to a less violent life.Rahman defeated Marion Wilson, Corrie Sanders and Frankie Swindell to earn a title shot.

In the aftermath of the upset, Lewis’ stunning loss was generally considered to be of his own doing. While Rahman came early to South Africa to acclimate himself to the higher altitude and worked out vigorously, Lewis was in this city two weeks before the fight for a walk-on part in the movie, “Ocean’s Eleven.” His lack of preparation was obvious when he weighed in at 253 pounds, his heaviest for a fight by three pounds.

“It was natural that he relaxed,” said Lewis’ trainer, Emanuel Steward. “He was fighting a guy who was never a solid fighter, who never had credentials.”

Lewis has vowed it will be different this time. Thursday, he weighed in at 246. With improved conditioning, Lewis should be able to move around the ring as he once did, using his height advantage (21/2 inches), longer reach and overall boxing skills to nullify a limited opponent whose fortunes rest in his ability to land the one big knockout blow.

“A one-punch wonder,” Steward said.

That’s not necessarily so. Rahman had Lewis in trouble early and often in their first bout.

And it’s not necessarily bad to be a heavy hitter against a fighter like Lewis.

Said English boxing writer Colin Hart, a longtime Lewis watcher, after noting the British-born fighter’s reduced flab, “You can’t put muscles on a chin.”

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No matter how much he thins down, or tries to psyche himself up, it’s unlikely a fighter who has been knocked out once by an opponent can ever erase that image from his mind.

Also, Rahman’s continual references to Lewis as “acting gay” seemed to have genuinely upset Lewis, and it seems he has not rebuilt his confidence as effectively as he has retooled his body.

The mental part of the sport has always been a problem for Lewis.

“Sometimes, I don’t know what’s going on in his mind,” Steward said. “It’s so frustrating, knowing what I got in terms of his skills, but seeing him only working at 30% to 40% at times. This fight is not up to Rahman to win. If he does, it will be because Lennox lost it.”

The likely outcome?

Look for Lewis, worried about Rahman’s power and unsure of himself, to remain on the outside, keep Rahman at bay, tie him up in clinches when necessary and eke out a boring decision.

THE FACTS

HASIM RAHMAN vs. LENNOX LEWIS

* What: Heavyweight bout tonight for the IBF and WBC titles at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

* TV: Pay-per-view, beginning at 6.