He sure did. One last time:
Message 15696991
Friday, Apr 20, 2001 5:25 PM
The explanation.
Yes, I've flipped to Rahman. More importantly, Rahman "by any means necessary." Decision, KO, Lewis unable to continue, disqualification, you name it. Anyway that results in Rahman's arm being lifted at the end of the fight.
Since this thread has started, I haven't picked a decisive underdog to win over an almost unanimously picked favorite...although, on this occasion I will deign to do so, for the first time. The odds are somewhere between 12-1 and 20-1 against Rahman beating Lewis.
If my saying that "an upset is in the air" the other day, and alluding to either Roy Jones and/or Lennox Lewis being the victims of such a blip in fortune is not enough...the below reasons should suffice, in addition:
1. At least since this thread started, almost exactly one year ago, I can't remember a challenger who has been so unilaterally dismissed by everyone...including the champ himself...as Rahman except, perhaps, Savarese against Tyson.
2. I believe that the acclimatization factor will come into play. The following items, in particular:
(a) Lewis' sudden cancellation of all the PR stuff he'd planned on doing leading up to the fight;
(b) his weighing in at his heaviest weight ever. The last time he fought at a weight even close to this one...I seem to recall...was when he lost to McCall;
(c) his decision to spend a week or so in Vegas filming a movie; and
(d) his repeated comments about Klitschko and Tyson;
...all make me believe that he is simply not ready for this fight. Moreover, that in the last 24 - 48 hours, he has realized this.
3) Rahman has been preparing in the spirit of a disciplined warrior: quietly, in the environment he'll fight in, and with little media fanfare.
Now, I believe that if - as he has done in the past - Lewis comes out, guns blazing...he can win, and win early. Maybe even...easily.
But I'm betting that Rahman will fight cautiously, exchanging only when he has to, and trying to bring Lewis into the later rounds where he'll put the pressure on.
That's where I stand. I'm not discounting Lewis, but I'm saying that I think the chances are pretty great that tomorrow night, the better man - whether by one inch or twenty miles - will be Hasim Rahman.
LPS5 |
