25 Years Ago Today: Hasim Rahman KO Lennox Lewis – Where Does This Upset Rank Amongst The Biggest Heavyweight Shockers?

Arguably second only to the absolute stunner that was Buster Douglas KO 10 Mike Tyson as far as biggest ever heavyweight upsets go, what Hasim Rahman did to Lennox Lewis, on this day a quarter of a century ago, still shocks us. Just how big an upset was it when Rahman flattened Lewis in South Africa? Also, who can forget the docile, sloppy smile Lewis had on his face a split-second before Rahman’s crushing right hand connected?

Rahman, a massive 20/1 betting underdog, sure wiped the smile off defending heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis’ face. “Rock” Rahman was given no chance by almost all the experts, while he was given almost no respect from Lewis, who famously arrived in South Africa just 12 days ahead of the fight, spending his time filming his short scenes in the movie ‘Ocean’s 11,’ when he should have been acclimatizing to the altitude in South Africa. In short, Rahman shocked the sporting world.

In fact, it could be argued that, aside from the aforementioned jaw-dropper Buster Douglas unleashed on the world in Tokyo, Japan, in 1990, Rahman gave us the biggest heavyweight upset of recent decades. Lewis was on top of the world, almost running out of worthy challengers. Rahman was a hungry guy with a lot to prove. Rahman came in as ready as he’d ever been, if not more so – his body in the best possible shape. Lewis came in at a then-career-high weight. By round three, Lewis was open-mouthed and seemingly out of ideas. Still, Rahman had never hurt the champ; he was behind on the cards, and Lewis would surely go on to get the win.

But in the fifth, his gas tank empty, his hands hopelessly and invitingly low, Lewis was bombed out by a stunning right cross. Lewis, backed into a corner, smiled as the shot was unleashed. The defending heavyweight champion had no response other than the dazed, dopey smile as the crushing blow landed flush on his jaw. Lewis went down like a felled horse, his legs, his equilibrium, his title gone.

Rahman was now the man smiling, only his smile was genuine.

As things turned out, Lewis proved to be the man who had the last laugh; Lennox savagely avenged his KO loss with a shotgun KO of his own in the immediate rematch in Las Vegas. But for now, Hasim “Rock” Rahman was the main man at heavyweight. Rahman may have got lucky, Lewis may have trained dumb. But once again, we were all shown, in graphic detail, how no man can ever be overlooked if he’s a heavyweight puncher.

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