Lewis-Rahman: Plenty of Fuel to Feed the Fire

In the macho world of boxing, it is considered the ultimate insult. Boxers live with the stinging blows and endure the trash talk, but don’t challenge their manhood.

Call a fighter a homosexual and all hell will break loose.

It did Thursday at the ESPN Zone in Disneyland, which briefly turned into the Twilight Zone. Up Close” took on a whole new meaning.

One minute, Lennox Lewis was his usual calm, engaging self, exchanging barbs with Hasim Rahman, the man who knocked him out last April and took his heavyweight titles. The next minute, Lewis, wild-eyed and furious, was rolling around on the floor with Rahman, the two smashing the interview table and turning the set into a free for all.

And what started it all? The word “gay.”

Rahman had said Lewis was “acting gay” when he went to court to force a rematch, which will be held Nov. 17 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center. Earlier in the day, on Jim Rome’s radio show, Rahman had referred to Lewis as “a sissy” and “a little girl.”

In the exchange on “Up Close,” Lewis responded by saying he could prove his masculinity to Rahman “if you bring your sister by.”

That incensed Rahman and the two were soon locked in combat--which ended without any punches thrown, or any injuries sustained.

It’s not the first time there have been whispers about Lewis’ sexual preference.

“It didn’t bother him at first,” said Debbie Caplan, formerly a publicist for Lewis. “He kind of laughed about it. But it bothers him now.”

A few hours after the altercation, Lewis, his calm demeanor restored, explained his behavior in a Century City restaurant.

“I just didn’t like his tone,” Lewis said. “I have no hatred against gay people. They are people just as well as anybody else.”

What surprised and pleased those around Lewis were the fire and passion he displayed. The outburst was uncharacteristic for a man who has been so laid back that he has been branded as boring, which has cost him dearly over the years in appeal and earning power.

Lewis has been gracious to a fault. When Mike Tyson wouldn’t fight him, Lewis didn’t show up at Tyson fights and call him out. That’s not Lewis’ style.

When Lewis was not awarded an obvious victory over Evander Holyfield in their first fight, , one of the most outrageous decisions in recent memory, Lewis protested, but in a dignified, professional manner.

When a television interviewer working via satellite asked Lewis a question he felt was out of bounds, Lewis was polite. He later called the interviewer and privately expressed his displeasure rather than making a big scene.

uch qualities are admirable in most professions but boxing is unlike anything else. . Anger, passion and fury sell tickets and win matches. Nice guys finish last in the ratings battles, if not those in the ring.

So the biggest smile after Thursday’s “wrestlemania” was exhibited by Emanuel Steward, Lewis’ trainer.

“I am so happy,” he said. “This is what he needed. The only thing lacking in the first fight was how stimulated and motivated Lennox was. But now Hasim Rahman has given us that with what he did today.”

Lewis agreed.

“He has reignited a flame in me,” said Lewis, who was knocked out in the fifth round by Rahman in their first meeting.

The fire was obvious Thursday afternoon. Told that Rahman had said Lewis was an old man who ought to devote himself solely to chess, a Lewis passion, the former heavyweight champion sneered, “He probably doesn’t even know how to play chess.”

Asked about Rahman’s talent, , Lewis said, “He wouldn’t even make it as one of [our] sparring partners. He really wouldn’t.”

The tension had been growing during a publicity tour that took the fighters to Baltimore and New York before L.A.

Rahman had offered Lewis a

belt from the clothing line he endorses, saying it was the only belt Lewis would get.

Steve Nelson, Rahman’s co-manager, had presented Lewis with grapes, announcing they were sour grapes, symbolizing the complaining Lewis had done about the first fight.

Lewis seethed, but held his emotions in check.

Until Rahman ignited the guaranteed-to-burn homosexual fuse.

Momentous Farewell

It should come as no surprise that Thursday’s histrionics occurred at a Don King promotion. The big surprise was that King himself, the master instigator, wasn’t on hand to orchestrate the theatrics.

Instead, King was among a crowd of about 1,400 at Elias Ghanem’s funeral in Las Vegas. The 62-year-old head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission died Monday of cancer. It is being called Las Vegas’ largest funeral ever.

Ghanem, a physician, was also known as the doctor to the stars, his patients having included Elvis Presley, Liberace, Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby.

“He was the Henry Kissinger of boxing,” said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada commission. “He could bring together the most diverse of the hotel operators and promoters and make fights happen. And he did it over and over again.

“He was also heavily involved in the medical aspect. When Holyfield had his heart problems, it was Elias Ghanem who directed Evander to the Mayo Clinic and made sure the proper tests were done.”

Ghanem was in charge of the commission when it severely disciplined Tyson after he’d bitten both of Holyfield’s ears in a 1997 fight. But Tyson was among the mourners at Ghanem’s service.

Quick Jab

Unbeaten lightweight Francisco “Panchito” Bojado (6-0, six knockouts) of East Los Angeles, a 2000 Olympian from Mexico, will fight Jesse Varela (19-3, 7) tonight on the undercard of a card in El Paso, Texas, (Showtime, 10). Also appearing will be fellow Olympians Ricardo Juarez and Jeff Lacy. In the main event, Juan Lazcano (27-2-1, 20) defends his North American Boxing Federation lightweight title against Julio Alvarez (24-7-1, 18).