Last Laugh Went to Boxer Who Kept Mouth Shut

Lennox Lewis figured out the best way to shut Hasim Rahman’s mouth. He blasted him in it.

Popped him with a huge right hand to the jaw that ended all of Rahman’s chatter four rounds into their heavyweight championship fight Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Rahman clowned with Lewis throughout the buildup to their fight after taking Lewis’ belts with a surprise knockout in April. Meanwhile, Lewis became more and more withdrawn.

“He showed a lot of disrespect to me, and I was keeping it all inside,” Lewis said, apparently willing to let his fists--and James Brown--speak for him.

Here’s the final result: Rahman talked, Lewis clocked.

It was “The Big Payback,” just like the words to the James Brown song that boomed through the arena when Lewis entered the ring.

The victor was the quieter, more genteel boxer from Britain.

But don’t think for a minute that this will bring a civil tone to the heavyweight division. Because now the unavoidable issue of Mike Tyson comes to the forefront again.

Tyson’s the biggest moneymaker out there. He’s more interesting than the winner of an Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz fight, especially if Holyfield should somehow prevail.

Lewis was widely considered to have beaten Holyfield the first time they met in a fight that was ruled a draw, and he won the rematch.

With Tyson, the trash talking started last summer when Tyson threatened to eat Lewis’ children. Of course, Lewis doesn’t have any children, as Rahman coyly noted in one of his many attempts to question Lewis’ sexual preference.

Lewis has talked about switching to promoter Don King, with whom he once vowed to never work. Tyson is currently operating under a no-King promise. King’s presence could mess up everything, but it could also help deliver the biggest payday in boxing--people are talking $30-million purses. In boxing, the money usually overrules all else.

You don’t need to survey the casinos; Rahman goes home as the biggest money-loser of the week. He passed on the chance to sign a $100 million, multi-fight deal with HBO, preferring to take his chances as a free agent and name his price if he beat Lewis in the rematch. After this loss that price might not be enough to buy him one of the $15 buffets in town.

We’ll give him this: Rahman’s stunning victory in South Africa and his verbal barrage in the fight buildup, including a shoving match during a television interview, helped stir interest in what otherwise would have been a mundane period for the division.

Rahman was at it in the final hours before the fight. When Lewis was ready to tape his hands, Rahman volunteered to serve as the witness.

“I just laughed at him,” Lewis said.

Lewis’ one recurrent taunt during the hype tour was his referral to Rahman’s fifth-round knockout in South Africa as a lucky punch. He called Rahman a one-hit wonder, a lottery winner.

Lewis never gave Rahman another shot. Whenever Rahman tried to load up his right hand Saturday, Lewis popped him with a quick left jab and kept him off-balance.

Lewis once again looked like the superior boxer, a far different appearance from their first fight. In April, Lewis’ training regime included a trip to Las Vegas to film a scene for “Ocean’s 11.”

“In Africa, I didn’t take him serious enough,” Lewis admitted.

“I thought he kept his distance and his footwork was better,” Rahman said. “He fought a good fight.”

Lewis won the first three rounds on the judges’ cards. In the fourth, a Lewis left hand grazed Rahman, and he was leaning backward. Lewis sent him on an express trip to the canvas with a right that caught Rahman on the jaw. Rahman looked dazed. He managed to stand, then wobbled and fell face-first to the floor.

The better talker didn’t win the fight. But talking did help sell tickets, so now it’s up to Lennox to do his share.

He appeared ready for the challenge after the fight Saturday.

“His name’s been changed,” Lewis said of Rahman. “He’s no longer Hasim. He’s Has-been.”

Lewis was unexpectedly exciting in this rematch. Most of the people who picked Lewis to win thought he would do so in boring fashion.

The trouble is, at 36, Lewis doesn’t have the long-term prospects to make people want to invest in him.

Lewis came through with a big punch this night. He’s the three-time heavyweight champion.

And after next month, maybe people will start thinking of him as that guy from “Ocean’s 11.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com.