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Lewis tips the scales
Los Angeles, June 20: Briton Lewis weighed in at 256 1/2 pounds, seven and a half pounds more than he did when he beat Mike Tyson in June 2002.
Los Angeles, June 20: Briton Lewis weighed in at 256 1/2 pounds, seven and a
half pounds more than he did when he beat Mike Tyson in June
2002.
Ukrainian Klitschko tipped the scales at 248 pounds.
Lewis defends his WBC and IBO titles against Ukrainian
Klitschko at Los Angeles's Staples Center on Saturday,
confident it will pave the way for a career capper against WBA
champion Roy Jones Jr later this year.
At thursday's weigh-in, the mood was jovially
competitive, perhaps reflective of the laid back setting of
Los Angeles, which last staged a heavyweight championship
fight in 1958.
Providing a historical book-end was Roy Harris, who lost
to the great Floyd Patterson in that match. Harris sized up
the present boxers from experience. "I think from what I've
heard about the two, and I've seen a little bit of them, but
it looks like Lennox Lewis is probably the more educated boxer
and he has probably more combat experience, although the other
fellow, when you knock out thirty one people in a row, that's
hard to overcome, I mean that's great", said Harris.
At 6-foot-7, Klitschko (32-1) is the tallest opponent Lewis (40-2-1) has ever faced but the 37-year-old Briton shows little apprehension. Lewis-Klitschko was hastily arranged after Lewis's original opponent, Canada's Kirk Johnson, withdrew with a chest injury.
It gives Klitschko, a resident of Los Angeles and Lewis's mandatory challenger in the WBC division, the world title shot he has craved, while the Briton gets the chance to accelerate his carefully-defined career plan.
The only two setbacks to Lewis have come in shock defeats to Oliver McCall in 1994 and Hasim Rahman in 2001, when he was accused of complacency. Giving Lewis a psychological boost at least was a group of fellow Brits, hoisting the Union Jack and singing songs with lyrics supporting their countryman.
Bureau Report
At 6-foot-7, Klitschko (32-1) is the tallest opponent Lewis (40-2-1) has ever faced but the 37-year-old Briton shows little apprehension. Lewis-Klitschko was hastily arranged after Lewis's original opponent, Canada's Kirk Johnson, withdrew with a chest injury.
It gives Klitschko, a resident of Los Angeles and Lewis's mandatory challenger in the WBC division, the world title shot he has craved, while the Briton gets the chance to accelerate his carefully-defined career plan.
The only two setbacks to Lewis have come in shock defeats to Oliver McCall in 1994 and Hasim Rahman in 2001, when he was accused of complacency. Giving Lewis a psychological boost at least was a group of fellow Brits, hoisting the Union Jack and singing songs with lyrics supporting their countryman.
Bureau Report