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Lewis has everything but one title
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Lennox Lewis has everything an undisputed heavyweight champion could want -- except one of his belts.Eight months after boxing's most coveted prize slipped from him because of questionable scoring, Lewis got the benefit of some more favorable judging Saturday night to unify the heavyweight title for the first time in seven years.
That didn't stop the IBF from spoiling things a bit by withholding its belt in a dispute over payment of a $300,000 sanctioning fee. But even that couldn't take away from a moment Lewis had been waiting more than a decade for.
"Now is a time to be happy. I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world," Lewis said. "It doesn't get any bigger than this."
The dispute over the IBF aside, there was no dispute among the three ringside judges that Lewis finally won the decision that was not given him when he appeared to dominate Evander Holyfield in their first fight March 13 at Madison Square Garden.
Lewis wasn't nearly as dominant in the rematch, and Holyfield fought valiantly at times, but the British heavyweight did enough to win by three points on one scorecard, four on a second, and six on the third.
"I finally did it," Lewis said. "I'm bringing all the belts back home."
Not so fast, he isn't.
Lewis left the ring with the WBC belt he carried into it, and the WBA belt that Holyfield held. But Holyfield's IBF belt was withheld at the last minute because of a dispute over the $300,000 sanctioning fee.
The dispute will likely be resolved, but the IBF appeared to give itself another self-inflicted black eye.
"Lennox is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and we will decide what to do with (the IBF) when I get home," said Panos Eliades, Lewis' promoter. "They way they acted is a disgrace."
IBF president Bob Lee, who pleaded innocent today in Newark, N.J., on federal charges of soliciting bribes to fix rankings, has said his organization refused a check from fight promoters because they tried to put the money in escrow "maybe because of the indictment."
Federal prosecutors in Newark revealed that they would be giving the defense several hundred hours of audio and video tapes collected during the investigation. They also are seeking to freeze two IBF bank accounts.
The judge will rule on that at the end of the month and set a tentative trial date of Jan. 11.
Lee did not speak during the hearing, but reiterated afterward that he considers the IBF heavyweight title vacant. Lee has given Lewis a Friday deadline for the money to be paid directly to the IBF, or would move for a fight to fill the vacancy.
He said the original sanctioning fee for Lewis was 3 percent of his $15 million purse, or $450,000, but was negotiated down.
The rematch that drew a near sellout crow caused to the 19,000-seat UNLV campus arena wasn't expected to be much better than the first fight that ended in a controversial draw in New York.
It turned out to be, though, with much of the credit going to Holyfield for his ability to turn portions of the bout into a brawl.
Holyfield landed several jarring left hooks, and won a wild seventh round that ended with both fighters going toe-to-toe in the center of the ring.
Lewis landed more punches (195 to 137, according to CompuBox statistics) but Holyfield landed the biggest shots of the fight and some at ringside agreed with his opinion that he had actually won this fight.
"Of course I'm unhappy with it, but I'm going to have to live with it," Holyfield said. "It's not so much what I think, but what reality is. And reality is that he's the heavyweight champion of the world."
Holyfield again deferred talk of a possible retirement, even though at the age of 37 he has been in some wars in the ring and does not have the same reflexes he had as a younger fighter.
Money isn't a problem for Holyfield, who earned $35 million for his two fights with Lewis. But Holyfield loves the limelight and he loves a challenge in the ring, and there is always a possible third fight with Mike Tyson to consider.
Tyson also figures to be in the future of the 34-year-old Lewis, whose ability to earn the kind of money he got to fight Holyfield ($15 million for the rematch) is limited partly because of a cautious style that many boxing fans find distasteful for a 6-foot-5, 242-pound heavyweight.
"I'm willing to box everyone out there," Lewis said. "If Tyson's available, I'll give him a chance."
Part of the problem with holding three titles, though, is that each boxing organization has its own list of top contenders, and Lewis will be under pressure to fight mandatory defenses against three different top-ranked contenders.
Right now, those No. 1 challengers include David Tua (IBF), Henry Akinwande (WBA) and John Ruiz (WBC), though in boxing these kind of things can change quickly.
"I realize I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and all the people are going to be calling to want to box me," Lewis said.
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