Ok, I'll own up ... I too was among the overwhelming majority of fite fans seeing Lewis, either early or late, over his IBF number one challenger Vitali Klitschko.

Simple enough choice ... logic was to go with the solid pro over the proven amateur ... and then the opening bell - and there I am back in good ol' B'klyn USA in them bad old days of cold water flats, ice boxes, nickel rides on the subway ... and attending them NY Golden Gloves amateur fites.

Action ... yes ... skills and finesse ... not a chance ... There they are, two behemoths staring at one another with right hands cocked and left arms extended as if in warning ya get close and I'll hit ya.

One fleeting moment had me thinking we shrink these guys and open a penny arcade ... put them in a box like them fighting robots with the button under the chin.

Anyway, round two it's Dr. Klitschko landing a big right hand ... more than a couple and Lewis appears a bit unsteady and confused ... unlike the "real" heavy champ recognition bestowed him by the today cable TV experts, historians and company men.

Fortunately for the alleged top 1-2-3-4-5 and counting best ever heavy ( baker's dozen maybe?) the East Euro amateur schools of pugilistic learning never offered its pupils the art, or technique, of finishing school.

Fact is, Lewis clearly showed he's gotten much too mileage from that monster win over a past-prime, and wrong medication choice version of the once feared Iron-Mike Tyson ... I mean, Lennox baby is as one-dimensional an entity as they make them today.

And then round three and as big a break Lewis could have wished for ... a nasty cut over left eye ... and so it went nip and tuck thru six candles ... enter commish doc between rounds and sees enough damage to call the show off.

No question this one gets dressed up as pretty as you please for a repeat ... over PPV thank you ... and the Barnum disciples will submit hook, line and sinker ... all this over a bout that went six suspense-filled candles albeit without anything resembling the smallest of combinations.

In closing, my choice of Roy Jones, Jr. over Lewis looks all the better with each growing second ... and yes, Jones and Byrd are every bit the equal heavyweight title shareholder that Lewis is ... and more complete entities than the big Brit as well.

Semper fi,

GEL

06-22-03

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