Lennox Lewis got busted up Saturday night, plain and simple. For a man who is supposed to be dominating in his weight class, he was tracked punch for punch by our new champion, Hasim "The Rock" Rahman, and was caught with a devastating right hand that put Lewis down and out. When I say out, I mean out. The pictures showed it all. Lewis was not there as his body tried to get up and it appeared that he was stunned and surprised as his corner told him he had lost the fight. You could see him get visibly upset.

But that didn't change the way all former champions act when they are knocked out. After he had gathered his senses (and that took a while for they were scattered everywhere), he continued to insist that he was in control the whole fight and just got hit with a good shot. That was the furthest thing from the truth he could have said. The truth is Rahman kept him just a little off balance the whole fight, just enough to tire out a fighter who had only been training at altitude (5200 feet) for 12 days. In the end Lewis was left with his hands down, no defense and looking for the big punch. It found him.

It was almost disgraceful to see him out there just waiting for an opening to hit Rahman. He looked like Tyson after his imprisonment. There was no stiff, consistent jab and very few combinations from the ex-champ. There was none of the boring, methodical Lewis style that just pounds you until you go down, similar to water torture. This was a big champion who thought he only had to show up, throw a couple of big punches, and go home.

People have likened this to the Tyson-Douglas fight of ten years ago. The shock of the whole thing is where the similarity to the Tyson fight ends. Tyson ran into what everyone knew could beat him, a man with a great jab. He had that jab only one night, but that's all he needed. Tyson fought hard the whole fight and may have actually won the fight in the 8th or 9th round but a semi-long count on a knockdown of Douglas kept the fight from ending.

Lewis was, well, it seems he was just lazy. He looked unprepared for what he thought was a middle of the road heavyweight. He looked uninterested. He looked beatable. He was.

So who is the new champion? A kid out of Baltimore with six years of experience under his belt, who after the fight told the state of Maryland, his mother's employer, to "take her job and shove it, she ain't workin' there no more". He thanked people, he was articulate, he was happy, and he was humble. In a word, he was impressive. It was said before the fight that he had become a fan favorite in South Africa and I can see why. He may have the charisma, the true charisma that the heavyweight division has been lacking since, well, Ali.

In the end, a champ who thought he was unbeatable was taken to task by a neighborhood kid with some talent, a dream, and a heart. Its funny how that combination always wins... in the end.

Article first appeared at www.e-sports.com

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