Sport - Boxing

Lewis batters Tyson to retain titles

Lennox Lewis shows off his championship belts after he knocked out Mike Tyson in the eighth round of their WBC/IBF heavyweight championship bout at The Pyramid in Memphis on Saturday. — AP

MEMPHIS JUNE 9. Lennox Lewis showed the bully who was boss.

Using a masterful left jab and landing his right hand at will, Lewis battered a befuddled Mike Tyson before stopping him with a crashing right hand in the eighth round to keep his heavyweight titles on Saturday night.

Tyson was bleeding from cuts over both his eyes and from his nose when Lewis landed a punch that sent him sprawling on his back in Lewis' corner. Tyson tried to stand up at the count of eight, getting to one knee, but he was counted out by referee Eddie Cotton at 2:25 of the round.

``Some of the punches he took, I was shocked,'' Lewis said. ``I felt them right through to my hand.''

It was a sudden end to a dominating performance by Lewis, who overwhelmed the former champion from the opening bell at the Pyramid Arena.

``There's no way I could ever beat him,'' Tyson said. ``He's just too big and too strong.''

Lewis, the IBF and WBC champion, had vowed to beat Tyson to restore order to the heavyweight division. He pounded him with jabs from the first round on, keeping Tyson away and out of range. When Tyson did get close, Lewis hit him with a right uppercut or an overhand right.

``I wanted to prove I was the best fighter in the world,'' Lewis said. ``Nobody gets away from my jab.''

Tyson certainly didn't. He was exposed as a fighter with limited skills who kept trying to throw punches at the champion but connected only occasionally. Tyson kept trying to rush in and land a big punch, but he never hurt Lewis with any of them.

The sight of Tyson being so thoroughly dominated was almost as shocking as his behaviour afterward, when he tenderly wiped the blood off of Lewis' cheek as the two answered questions.

``He's a magnificent, a prolific fighter, and he should continue fighting,'' Tyson said. ``I love him and respect him too much to do something to him.''

Early in the eighth round, Tyson was already bleeding when Lewis hit him with a series of punches that buckled his legs and nearly put him down. Cotton ruled it a knockdown and gave Tyson an 8-count.

When the fight resumed, Lewis went after Tyson again, throwing right hands and jabs before finally connecting with a huge right hand that crashed into the side of Tyson's face, sending him sprawling on his back.

Tyson had gone into the ring an underdog for the first time in his career, and it was quickly apparent why.

He had said he would ``crush'' Lewis' skull, but Lewis made him look like an amateur, dominating inside and out with his jab and big right hands.

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