Among the stars sat at ringside for the huge (41 million viewers on Netflix huge) Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez fight were former intense heavyweight rivals Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman. It was clear to see that the two had buried the hatchet; they sat next to each other at The Allegiance Stadium in Las Vegas.
The two punchers actually ended up at 1-1, with both men scoring a big KO; Rahman really shocked the world when he scored first blood, sensationally taking Lewis down in South Africa in April of 2001. Then, after the two got into a brawl in a TV studio – a scene that brought back memories of when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier rolled around on live TV prior to their big rematch – Lewis got his revenge, stopping Rahman in November that year, the rematch taking place in Vegas.
Nobody called for a rubber match, with Lewis instead going on to fight Mike Tyson in a lucrative showdown. Now they’re apparently buddies again. It was interesting what Rahman had to say on the subject of what he thinks would have happened if Lewis had fought current heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk. A fascinating Dream Fight for sure, Lennox has actually said that Usyk is the one fighter he wishes he could have faced in the ring.
Rahman’s Pick in Dream Fight
So who does “Rock” see winning this mythical matchup?
“I just think Lennox got good distance, I’m talking about Lennox [when he was training] with Manny Steward,” Rahman told Boxing King Media. “He was the ultimate chess player; he knew how to control the distance, and his power was unbelievable. I’m saying the way he controlled his ring IQ, the way he controlled the ring, his power and his height, his distance, he knew how to control a fight.”
It absolutely would have been a Sweet Science delight seeing Lewis and Usyk match wits and ring IQ. Two clever, thinking fighters, Usyk and Lewis, have in common the ability to dictate the pace of a fight, to make it their fight. It may well have been a classic had a prime Lewis squared off with a prime Usyk. Rahman feels his old rival would have gotten the win; other experts feel Usyk would have found a way to get the win. The way he has yet to fail to do in any real fight.
Lewis, of course, tasted defeat twice as a pro, while Usyk remains unbeaten as of now.
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