January 31, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Lewis plays the waiting game
By Mark Samms

LONDON, January 31, Graphic News:  TO millions of boxing fans, Lennox Lewis is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a sport where a new batch of heroes is created as soon as someone thinks up a fresh set of initials, he reigns supreme.

Yet Lewis will never feel truly vindicated or entirely accepted until he has dealt with a problem called Mike Tyson. He will never feel that his place in the history of the sport is secure while the combustible wildman continues to stalk in his shadow.

He is a demon that Lewis must exorcise, but whether he will get the chance to do so remains to be seen, because time is running out. As Tyson continues to seek official sanction for one last big pay-day, London-born Lewis will be approaching his 37th birthday, having already salted away a multi-million dollar fortune.

Tyson is 35, and has squandered most of his. Therefore, one man will be fighting for his sense of sporting immortality, the other for his financial future. Both are compelling motives, and are compounded by the growing personal antagonism that now exists between the two men.

It is a fight millions want to see, but in the final analysis it is Lewis who will decide whether they get the opportunity.
/ENDS