Paul Barker

20.07 - And to think there was a time I was saying it about Tyson: "You da man, Mikey!" What was I thinking?

Like so many others, I was a dyed-in-the-wool Tyson fanatic back in the eighties and nineties. He was like no fighter I'd ever seen before, an unstoppable juggernaut who annihilated his opponents with a ferocity akin to a jungle beast's. Despite the distressing frequency and severity of his "indiscretions" outside the ring, he was my idol. As long as he continued to make mincemeat out of his opponents, he could have been a homicidal maniac behind closed doors for all I cared. And, by some accounts, he was.

Tyson was already on top when Lennox Lewis came along. I was probably aware of Lewis' existence before the average fight fan, because he'd grown up practically in my back yard. My brother used to play football against him. Lennox became a pro boxer in 1989, and quickly amassed a string of impressive victories. We were proud of our hometown boy, but he seemed a million miles from the hallowed ground Mike Tyson trod upon.

After his TKO victories over Mike Weaver and Tyrell Biggs, people started to sit up and take notice. The words "Tyson" and "Lewis" would even appear in the same sentence occasionally. Not in any sentence of mine, you understand, unless it was to ridicule the notion that Lewis actually had a chance in hell! As far as I was concerned, Lewis seemed like the quintessential Tyson victim in many ways.

I saw him as tall, slow, and relatively weak. Never mind that he was defeating the same opponents as Tyson, and sometimes with greater efficiency. When Lewis succumbed to Oliver McCall in the second round of their 1994 fight, it was all the evidence I needed - Lewis was inferior! If the Atomic Bull could kick Lewis' ass, what would Iron Mike do to him? I could accept Tyson's befuddled performance against Buster Douglas as an aberration, but not this Lewis/McCall shocker. Even when Lewis avenged his loss in '97.

I subscribed to the prevailing belief that Lewis was arrogant, lazy, and unmotivated. Let me now address these misconceptions. Lewis isn't arrogant, merely confident and introspective. He ain't lazy; he just makes it look easy. I'll concede that he was unmotivated in his initial bouts against McCall and Rahman, but he was a holy terror in the rematches.

Lewis is disliked and disrespected for one reason: his cool, economical fighting style. He seldom if ever fights with passion or abandon. He's intelligent enough to know when he's ahead on points, when he's behind, when he must pour it on, when he can conserve. And let's face it - most of the time he's okay just hiding behind his jab. I think this infuriates a lot of people.

Which is not to say Lewis is infallible. The fragility of his chin will remain a hotly contested issue long after he is dead and gone. He sometimes grossly underestimates the skill of his opponents. He refuses to take my complex advice (beat Wlad Klitschko, retire.) Ah well, nobody's perfect!

So how would he fare against "Prince Wlad?" Let's just re-examine Lewis' record and see how he's fared against tall fighters in general. He dominated Tony Tucker in '93, dropping him twice; Henry Akinwande was disqualified for making love not war (excessive holding!) in '97; Michael Grant, in 2000, was blown out in a couple of rounds.

Tall or short, it doesn't seem to matter much to Lennox Lewis.

I'm not suggesting our man would have it easy against the young Ukrainian. In fact, I think he's underestimating Klitschko big time if he truly believes the latter "is not tough enough." But I do see Lennox triumphing in the end, and in convincing fashion. If Lewis enters the ring genuinely ready to do battle, it would take Vitali and Wlad together to stop him!

I'll conclude with a word about Lewis/Tyson. Iron Mike was actually the younger man in that contest, and by all accounts had trained hard for it. (His shell-shocked sparring partners will attest to the degree of strength and speed the guy still possesses.) What transpired was basically a carbon copy of Tyson/Holyfield I, which itself was a carbon copy of Tyson/Douglas. Mike was simply outclassed by a superior boxer who came to fight.

Lennox Lewis, you've made a believer out of me. You've fought and beaten the best throughout your stellar career; what few losses you've suffered, you've avenged. Even if you retire tomorrow, you'll go down in history as one of the greats in the division.

You da man!