Justice Prevails in Memphis

Walter C. Donovan, III

10.06 - It feels good when the right thing happens. Even before Lennox Lewis dumped Mike Tyson for the count in the eighth round to retain his undisputed heavyweight title Saturday night in Memphis, the good guy thrashing the bad guy with piercing jabs, whistling uppercuts, and pulverizing right crosses was…well, a damn good thing to watch.

Lennox Lewis is a great champion whose image has often taken more of a battering than Tyson did, simply because he's not American. Yeah, I said it. Got a problem with that? Have you noticed how brave I become when throwing down this literary gauntlet, thereby not having to face a potentially ticked off adversary?

After getting knocked out by Hasim Rahman in April 2001, chants of "Lewis is a British creampuff" and other unflattering remarks filled the New York City gyms, and most likely elsewhere across the country. Never mind that Lewis beat Evander Holyfield twice (regardless of that foul draw verdict in the first fight), or earned victories over the always-tough Ray Mercer, the dangerous David Tua, and demolished Andrew Golota and HBO's heavily-hyped "heir apparent," Michael Grant. And like all true champions do, he avenged his earlier kayo defeat to Oliver McCall. None of this was good enough, and it certainly wasn't after losing to Rahman.

But in November 2001, Lewis showed the resilience of a champion once again, starching the man who starched him to regain his title. But it still wasn't good enough. Just check the East Side Boxing poll on predicting the Lewis-Tyson outcome, and you'll see most picked Tyson to win by knockout. And when asking my buddies at Kingsway Boxing in New York City for their predictions, I was hearing "Tyson will knock his a-- out," or "Lewis just doesn't have the heart." I can only imagine what was being said at the Brooklyn gyms, where Tyson still receives incredible support as a result of his Brownsville roots and villainous demeanor. The disrespect for Lewis was appalling, and actually angered me a bit. Predicting Lewis the winner in New York was almost a sign of infidelity. I was apprehensive in doing so, even when all sensible logic suggested Lewis would beat Tyson convincingly.

But when all was said and done, justice prevailed Saturday night in Memphis. Lennox Lewis, the champion who has conducted himself as such throughout the last decade without a hitch of scandal or impropriety, turned back Mike Tyson's challenge, once again validating his place among the finest heavyweight champions in boxing history. If that's still not good enough for you, nothing will ever be.