Why did Lennox Lewis lose his first match with Hasim Rahman?

Question

I watched Rahman send him to the canvas.

Answer 1

Believing that Rahman was nothing, not even in his class, poor training camp habits, a total data dump of a little thing called defense, egging on Rahman with frequent taunting during the fight, add them all up and you get a big guy with dread locks taking a nap on the middle of a beer ad. "What happened"??.."You got knocked out that's what happened"!!!

Answer 2

In my 37 years existence I've seen some really good boxers do some really dumb things. Two of the dumbest things that a fighter can do is 1) take an opponent for granted, and, 2) not prepare properly, i.e, training. Just a student has to study, do their homework, etc, so do fighters. Lennox took Rahman for granted, didn't train (much), nor did he rest the night before the fight. It was evident early on that Lennox underestimated his opponent. As long as Lennox had been fighting at that time, he should have known that an experienced big man with power always has a "punchers chance". Rahman, by recognizing that Lennox, more than anything else, was simply going through the motions, waited for, and, seized the moment. He didn't wait long, though. In the second round Rahman turned his attention to Lewis' chin. He totally took Lewis out of the fight, by throwing big right hands. Lewis, who possesses an awesome wing-spand/reach, and a nice jab, totally abandoned it. Keep in mind that this was 2001, the same year Lennox had to rehearse his lines for Oceans 11. Yeah right! He just had to be there. Nevermind he had a fight in a month and a half. Never mind that while he was pretending for a month, Rahman was training in South Africa (the site of the fight). Again, Lewis did not prepare for the fight, how could he? He didn't arrive in South Africa until 10 or 11 days before the fight. This ain't rocket science boys and girls, take a 10 hour flight, rest for a minimum of one day. Eat like a pig, hydrate up, and, take in the nite life/ celebrity signings etc. So now you have only 8, maybe, 9 days to train. Seriously folks, a weeks worth of training for a title fight----That's how he lost. For the record, Lewis did have a cameo appearance in the remake of Oceans 11, starring Clooney, Cheadle, Garcia, Pitt, Damon, and, (Julia)Roberts. Lewis also lived like a celebrity, making numerous nite life appearances, dinners, parties, etc.....he obviously ate well. Lewis weighed a whopping 253 lbs for the fight. I am pretty sure it's the heaviest he's ever been (for a fight). Lewis usually paws away at his opponents via his legnthy jab. He did no such thing in this bout eventhough he had a 9 inch reach advantage. Pick your poison, Lewis did.

Answer 3

It was a combination of things. Lewis-Rahman 1 was in Johanesburg, South Africa, with an elevation of 5,000 feet, not to mention the time zone difference.

Rahman got to South Africa 3 weeks before the fight, and was well adjusted to the altitude and time by the time the fight rolled around.

Lewis took Rahman lightly, and didn't arrive in South Africa until 2 days before the fight. If you've ever travelled, it usually takes 2-3 days for your body to adjust to local time.

Lewis was cocky and unprepared. Rahman was hungry and ready. The more prepared fighter won that night.

Answer 4

He got confused and thought he was an actor, filming oceans 11 and didn't take Hasim Rahman seriously. Didn't train to the standards he usually does and consequently was underdone and Rahman knocked him out. Some credit must be given to Hasim though.

Answer 5

Lennox took Rahman lightly, got careless and Rahman tagged him with an excellent punch. It just goes to prove the old saying "he's got a punchers chance"

Answer 6

He took him lightly. He was a bit out of shape and didn't train as much. It was one of the greatest upsets ever. Lewis was favored by a 15-to-1 advantage over Hasim Rahman, prior to their epic encounter.

Answer 7

Rahman got Lewis with a lucky punch, the same reason that Oliver McCall beat him. When you are fighting as a Heavyweight anyone you get in the ring with has the power to knock you out if they manage to land a haymaker.

Answer 8

Yes, From a Hail Mary Hook that Rahman threw when he got desperate.

Answer 9

Two things: lack of preparedness, and the altitude. Rachman got to Johannesburg, South Africa more than a month before they fought there, to aclimatise himself to the altitude. Lewis showed up days before the fight. He was sucking for air by the end of the third. And let's not forget that Rachman hit him quite hard, too.

Answer 10

Lennoxx Lewis didn't impress me. He was just lucky or good enough to be a champion when the heavy weight division fell to its lowest point. We don't know who will show up in a heavy weight fight now.