Lennox Lewis vs Michael Grant Replay - HBO 5-5-2000
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00:00The following is a special presentation of HBO Sports,
00:03the network of champions.
00:08It was the right fight for the right time.
00:12After prying the People's Heavyweight Championship
00:15away from the Vander Holyfield
00:16with 24 rounds of cautious boxing,
00:19two fights worth in 1999,
00:21Lennox Lewis turned manager
00:23and won the title for the first time
00:25in the history of the heavyweight division.
00:28Lennox Lewis turned manager
00:30and began looking for the opponent
00:32against whom to solidify his hold on the title
00:35and on the public mind.
00:37One week after his Vegas victory over Holyfield,
00:39he traveled to Atlantic City
00:41to watch unbeaten prodigy Michael Grant
00:43against unpredictable problem child Andrew Gulotta.
00:48Michael Grant has made a big case for himself tonight.
00:54The British titlist decided he had his man,
00:56not some outclassed journeyman
00:58against whom to harvest a haul of easy money,
01:01not some politically connected mandatory challenger
01:04whose ranking bore no relation to his record,
01:07but the ringside expert's consensus choice
01:09for toughest kid on the block.
01:11A brave choice and a challenger
01:13who ultimately entered to mount a brave fight.
01:17Early thunder from Grant, and he lands a big right hand.
01:21Yet many say too brave.
01:23Lewis lands a right hand on the top of the head.
01:26Grant trying to fire back.
01:29Grant goes down.
01:30It's Goliath versus Goliath,
01:32just big boulders being thrown by both of them.
01:36Grant begins to get his senses back.
01:38Lewis landing the uppercut again,
01:40and he punches Grant, thunderous uppercut.
01:43Which is part of how it became, in the end,
01:46exactly the right fight
01:47at exactly the right time for Lennox Lewis.
01:56♪♪
02:06♪♪
02:16♪♪
02:26♪♪
02:36♪♪
02:44For the second time in 13 months,
02:46the continuing drama of boxing's heavyweight championship
02:49returns to the mecca of boxing,
02:51Madison Square Garden in New York City.
02:54This time, an entirely different kind of fight.
02:57Hello again, everybody. I'm Jim Lampley,
02:59along with HBO World Championship
03:01boxing expert, two-time heavyweight champion
03:03George Foreman and HBO boxing analyst
03:06Larry Merchant. We welcome you to this special edition
03:08of World Championship Boxing, looking back
03:10at the heavyweight championship battle
03:12between Lennox Lewis and Michael Grant.
03:14It was to be the first post-modern
03:16heavyweight championship fight.
03:18The two largest men in aggregate ever to contest the title,
03:22497 pounds of scientifically conditioned,
03:25modern, 21st century sports muscle.
03:29And yet, despite all of that,
03:30virtually no expert looked at the fight
03:33and predicted big fireworks,
03:35and conditioned by what they saw of Lewis
03:37in his cautious 12-round battles
03:38with Evander Holyfield last year,
03:40most ringsiders expected more of the same.
03:44Thus, the drama of what took place
03:46in Madison Square Garden, something entirely different.
03:49George Foreman, before the fight,
03:50Michael Grant told anybody who would listen
03:53that he was going to come in aggressively
03:54in the first round and try to impose
03:56his physical will on Lennox Lewis.
03:58Lewis, for his part, said,
04:00I saw him get knocked down twice
04:02in the first round against Andrew Gulotta.
04:03I expect the opposite.
04:04He has a right to be cautious after that,
04:06and I think that's what is going to happen.
04:09You know better than most.
04:10What did you expect to see in that first round?
04:11I really expected to see a lot more hugging
04:14and grabbing and clutching.
04:15The rings, they weren't built for big guys like this.
04:18There's not enough room to jab and move out of the way.
04:21There's gotta be constant contact.
04:22I thought it would be a lot of holding.
04:24I was shocked to see Lewis open up that much power
04:27round after round and land in so many shots.
04:30It was a surprise.
04:31Boy, it didn't help Michael Grant
04:34to charge this man tonight.
04:35Yeah, all of it reminded us that
04:37while Lennox Lewis may be a counterpuncher,
04:39he's a power-punching counterpuncher.
04:41Yeah, but there was no room to counter this time.
04:43You have to be there, throw shots, a hug,
04:46and he threw punches.
04:47All right, Larry Merchant going into the fight.
04:49One of the elements that Michael Grant's critics
04:52seized upon was the vast disparity in experience
04:55between Lewis and Grant.
04:56Lewis, with a mastery of the big event like this,
04:59and Grant never having been in one before.
05:01You discounted that and said it wouldn't be about
05:04whether Grant was ready,
05:05but about whether he was good enough.
05:07You sticking with that?
05:08That's my story, Jim.
05:10I'm sticking with it.
05:13Look, sure, because of the results of this fight
05:17and the way it was fought, we can say Michael Grant
05:20got caught up in the big event and lost it.
05:23He reverted to the baseball player he once was,
05:26except he was trying to throw the ball
05:28at 200 miles an hour.
05:29Or the football player he once was
05:31and try to throw a three touchdown pass.
05:34Or the basketball player he was
05:36and try to make a 10-point basket.
05:40He lost it.
05:41He lost it because he employed a strategy
05:46in the big event that he was unfamiliar with.
05:49He didn't dance with who brung him here.
05:54That, incidentally, was the same kind of mistake
05:58that a very experienced Oscar De La Hoya made
06:02when he fought Felix Trinidad
06:05in the biggest fight of last year.
06:07He turned into a pure boxer and couldn't pull it off.
06:12Call it inexperience.
06:14Call it not being good enough.
06:16Say that Michael Grant just wasn't up to the moment.
06:20That he couldn't shoulder the burden
06:23on those big shoulders of his,
06:25of the expectations that had been placed on him.
06:28Well, partially because Grant was lesser-known,
06:30there was no massive media build-up to match the two
06:34that surrounded last year's two Lewis Holyfield fights.
06:37But nevertheless, Madison Square Garden was nearly full
06:41and the crowd was raucous, helped along again
06:44by a massive influx of British fans
06:46here to root for their man.
06:48And though Lewis is a well-known chess player,
06:50what they got this time was fireworks.
06:52Let's go back to the evening of April 29 in the Garden.
06:57The tale of the tape
06:59between Lennox Lewis and Michael Grant.
07:01Lewis giving up seven years in age,
07:04two inches in height,
07:06two inches in reach,
07:08and three pounds to the younger, bigger challenger.
07:13Punch that numbers, Larry.
07:15Hey, look at how active they are.
07:17You can see that in general,
07:20they throw approximately
07:22forty-plus punches around
07:25a little bit more than his average for heavyweights.
07:30Jabs, perhaps the most important numbers.
07:34Lewis has a big, heavy jab.
07:36Grant is quicker.
07:38The early going, we'll see whose jab is dominating.
07:42And perhaps the most important numbers,
07:47defense.
07:48These numbers show how often these fighters
07:51have been hit in recent fights.
07:53Grant is a big strike zone.
07:57Fifty percent of the punches thrown at him have landed.
08:00Only a third of the punches thrown at Lewis.
08:04Rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside scorer,
08:07Harold Lederman.
08:08The Lennox Lewis-Michael Grant fight
08:10is scheduled for twelve rounds
08:12using the unified rules
08:13of the Association of Boxing Commissions.
08:15There is no stand-the-gate count,
08:17no three knockdown rule.
08:19Only the referee can stop the fight.
08:21And you cannot be saved by the bell at any round,
08:23including the twelfth and final round.
08:26Jim.
08:28Michael Grant, a good old American all-around athlete.
08:33Football, basketball, had a baseball tryout
08:37with the Kansas City Royals.
08:39Hit a rock and fire at ninety miles an hour plus.
08:42And then, already adult, already a grown man,
08:46he took up boxing at the suggestion of some
08:48who saw him and said,
08:49hey, with your frame, you will be a force in the ring.
08:53Grant now prepares for a final prayer
08:55before coming into his first heavyweight championship fight.
08:59Father, we worship you tonight.
09:01We thank you that you are the God of all gods.
09:04We thank you, Father, that we're here tonight
09:06to watch your power cause this man
09:08to do what no one else has ever done,
09:11that is bring down Lance Lewis, Father, and defeat.
09:14We just thank you, Father, that in the name of Jesus,
09:17all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise goes to you.
09:20We thank you for causing him to be in this time,
09:22in this place, and giving him this opportunity.
09:25You said, Father, that your eyes are upon the righteous,
09:28and your ears are open to our prayers.
09:30So we pray tonight that you'd be with Mike,
09:32that the Holy Spirit would be his helper, his guide,
09:35and that everything that he has learned in training,
09:38may the Holy Spirit bring it back to remembrance
09:40as we leave.
09:41Father, we thank you for your grace upon him tonight,
09:43and we do declare victory, and we receive it.
09:46We bless you for it.
09:47In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we do pray.
09:50Everyone in agreement, say it.
09:52Amen.
09:53Amen.
09:54Amen.
09:55All right.
09:56We gotta walk.
09:57We gotta walk.
09:58Good night, Mike.
09:59Good night.
10:00Good night.
10:01Good night.
10:02Good night.
10:03Good night.
10:04Good night.
10:05Good night.
10:06Good night.
10:07Good night.
10:08Good night.
10:09Good night.
10:10Good night.
10:11Good night.
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10:18Good night.
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10:24Good night.
10:25Good night.
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10:27Good night.
10:28Good night.
10:29Good night.
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10:31Good night.
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10:34Good night.
10:35Good night.
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10:45Good night.
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10:47Good night.
10:48Good night.
10:49Good night.
10:50Good night.
10:51Good night.
10:52Good night.
10:53Good night.
10:54Good night.
10:55Good night.
10:56Good night.
10:57Good night.
10:58Good night.
10:59Good night.
11:00Good night.
11:01Good night.
11:02Good night.
11:03Good night.
11:04Good night.
11:05Good night.
11:06Good night.
11:07Good night.
11:08Take it back.
11:10And here he comes.
11:21As legend would have it Michael Grant was inspired to become a
11:25boxer by the excitement of Evander Holyfield first
11:31two fights against Riddick Beau in 1992 and 1993.
11:37but he never laced on a boxing glove
11:41until after the time when Lennox Lewis
11:44had, for the first time in his career,
11:46won a heavyweight championship title belt.
11:51This afternoon, Jim, Michael Grant,
11:56for an hour, was singing some of the greatest hits
12:00of the 60s and 70s with a friend,
12:04including many of Sam Cooke's best numbers.
12:09One of the lyrics goes,
12:11I'm too scared of living that I'm afraid to die.
12:15It's been a long time coming,
12:18but I know a change is coming.
12:21And he takes that to mean a change
12:25in the heavyweight division.
12:26He sings gospel, soul, and rhythm and blues.
12:34Though the attitude with which Grant sings it,
12:37it might be better called rhythm and joy
12:40than rhythm and blues.
12:56♪ I'm too scared of living that I'm afraid to die ♪
13:02♪ I'm too scared of living that I'm afraid to die ♪
13:07♪ I'm too scared of living that I'm afraid to die ♪
13:13Grant says he never reached his full potential
13:16in baseball, basketball, or football.
13:19He sees this as an opportunity
13:22to finally, finally achieve his full potential
13:27in an individual sport.
13:29A carefully calculated professional career.
13:3231 fights expressly chosen for the purpose
13:35of bringing him to this threshold.
13:38It almost all came apart last November against Golota,
13:42but he got through it, and now here he takes advantage
13:46of the chance to fight for the title.
13:4822 knockouts, many of them simply by wearing
13:52his opponent down over the course of several rounds.
13:56And of course, what doesn't kill you
14:00often makes you stronger,
14:03and he probably will be stronger
14:06for having experienced that near-death knockdown.
14:11♪♪
14:18♪♪
14:23Back up. You got to back up.
14:25Back up. Back up.
14:26No, he's got to back up.
14:27Let's go.
14:28He's got to back up. Back up.
14:29Back up.
14:30Keep moving. Keep moving.
14:31Keep moving. Keep moving.
14:32Good.
14:33The man in the blue jacket is Lennox Lewis's brother, Dennis,
14:37urging those in front of them to back up.
14:40Throughout his career,
14:41Lennox Lewis has protected at moments like this
14:44an almost supernatural call.
14:47He used to distrust it.
14:48More and more, we understand this is simply the man he is.
14:54Well, he's taken a long and arduous
14:58and very tenacious road to the top of his profession.
15:04He hasn't really gotten enough credit for that,
15:08how he has stuck with it until he did achieve his dream.
15:13I can show you what those guys are thinking
15:15as they walk up to that ring.
15:17Did I go to the restroom enough?
15:21Fact of life.
15:23Should I have gone once more?
15:26You are nervous. Extremely nervous.
15:28Announcers aren't immune to that thought, George.
15:31If you say to yourself,
15:32the uncertainty is the most frightening foe that ever lived.
15:36Well, Lennox Lewis lived through a lot of uncertainty
15:39to finally become the heavyweight champion of the world.
15:4335 wins, the one loss on a quick stoppage
15:48after the knockdown by Oliver McCall
15:50and the draw with Holyfield here last March
15:53in a fight in which most of the Western world
15:55thought that Lewis was robbed.
15:58And now let's go ring announcer Michael Buffer
16:01to set up the heavyweight title fight.
16:03Ladies and gentlemen, from Madison Square Garden,
16:05New York City.
16:07Tonight, 29 April, year 2000.
16:11Panics of USA, main events,
16:14and your undisputed undefeated king of beers, Budweiser,
16:19present two men,
16:21the two combined biggest men in boxing history,
16:25facing each other for one title,
16:28the one true title,
16:30the legitimate, universally recognized,
16:33undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
16:41Mentioned by the New York State Athletic Commission,
16:43the WBC, the IBF, and the IBO,
16:47presented in association with TVKO,
16:50pay-per-view from HBO Sports,
16:52and HBO World Championship Boxing.
16:55At ringside, the three judges assigned
16:59to score this 12-round bout
17:01on the 10-point must system are
17:04Anik Hongtong Kan,
17:06Melvina Lathan,
17:08and Steve Weissel.
17:10And when the bell rings,
17:11your referee in charge of the action,
17:14Arthur Mercanti Jr.
17:17And now, from Madison Square Garden, New York City,
17:21for the thousands in attendance
17:23and the millions watching around the world,
17:28ladies and gentlemen,
17:31let's get ready to rumble!
17:43Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner,
17:47wearing white trimmed with blue,
17:49he stands 6 feet 7 inches tall
17:52and weighs 250 pounds.
17:55He comes to the ring tonight
17:57with a perfect professional record
17:59consisting of 31 bouts,
18:0231 victories, including 22 knockouts,
18:06and he has held the world title belt of the IBC.
18:10Ladies and gentlemen,
18:12from Norristown, PA, USA,
18:15here is the top-rated world contender,
18:19the undefeated challenger,
18:23Michael Brown!
18:37And across the ring, fighting out of the red corner,
18:40standing tall at 6 feet 5 inches
18:43and weighing in at 247 pounds,
18:47his professional record,
18:49an outstanding one with 37 bouts,
18:52he has 35 victories,
18:54including 27 knockouts,
18:57only one defeat with one draw
18:59while capturing four world championship title belts.
19:03Ladies and gentlemen,
19:05from East London, England,
19:07presenting the universally recognized,
19:10reigning and defending
19:13undisputed true heavyweight champion of the world,
19:19the...
19:22Onyx...Human.
19:29Chief second in there. Everybody else out.
19:35Let's clear the ring, sir.
19:38Just a chief second, my friend, okay?
19:43Good evening, gentlemen. You two are big men.
19:46Let's have a nice, clean fight.
19:48Good luck to the both of you.
19:50God bless.
19:53You heard Grant say,
19:55God bless to Lewis.
19:57These are two Goliaths.
19:59It's Goliath versus Goliath.
20:02No slingshots,
20:04just big boulders being thrown by both of them.
20:07And for what it's worth,
20:09although this doesn't seem to interest the public,
20:11these are two good men.
20:14Early thunder from Grant.
20:16Lewis tries to fire back.
20:18Grant said he would come out aggressively,
20:21and he lands a big right hand.
20:28Everybody talked about Grant holding his left hand low.
20:31Lewis holds his left toe low also,
20:34and Michael Grant just illustrated it
20:37by pounding a right hand through it.
20:39Lewis is a good right-hand puncher.
20:42Lewis is a good right-hand puncher,
20:44but he needs his guy exchanging the right hands.
20:47He shouldn't be overthrowing them right now.
20:50Grant is a big guy.
20:52You want to be conservative.
20:54Now, don't waste any shots.
20:56Grant put in a left hand to the body.
20:58He's a better, more effective body puncher than Lewis.
21:02Step back now.
21:09Now, Lewis is getting the rhythm now
21:12of stopping his right hand,
21:13and you don't want him to get in a rhythm
21:15of stopping Grant's right hand
21:16because his confidence gets greater,
21:18and he's standing straighter up
21:20for his over-top right hand.
21:22Grant's got to be conservative.
21:23Don't throw that right hand
21:24unless you know you have an opening.
21:26There's already a little blood
21:28coming from the mouth of Lewis.
21:31I think it's a result of the right cross
21:33that Grant landed over against the far rope thing.
21:36Well, you got to have a lot of Vaseline in your mouth
21:38when you get in the ring.
21:39The first round, not enough lubrication.
21:42Now, you need Vaseline.
21:44Lewis lands an uppercut, and Grant goes down.
21:47Thunderous uppercut.
21:50That punch landed very high on the head,
21:53which is a place that can paralyze a fighter.
21:57Second fight in a row
21:58in which Grant has been knocked down in the first round.
22:01Second time he'll have to work to survive
22:03the last minute of round one.
22:05Lewis lands a right hand on the top of the head.
22:08Grant trying to fire back.
22:13Ropes held him up.
22:14Mercanti will count again.
22:16Two knockdowns in the round.
22:19No three-knockdown rule in a heavyweight title fight.
22:23Hey!
22:26Lewis has got to be direct.
22:28Don't waste your shots with this big guy.
22:30He has endurance.
22:35Lewis throwing to the body
22:36as Grant tries to hold him upstairs.
22:39Great.
22:40Lewis got in another right hand.
22:43Grant is wobbling.
22:44One punch will finish him.
22:46Can he hold on for another 20 seconds?
22:49Another uppercut lands for Lewis.
22:51That's the punch that did so much damage.
22:56Lewis has still got to be...
22:57Whoa!
22:58That should do it.
22:59That's it.
23:00That should do it.
23:01That's it.
23:02He's broke his legs.
23:03Don't be.
23:04I don't think Grant will get up from that.
23:06Here he comes.
23:07He's going to try.
23:10And Grant makes it out of the round.
23:14Michael, Grant's plan to attack
23:16produced a sudden reversal in round one.
23:28You got to use your legs, man.
23:30You got to use your legs.
23:31You hear what I say?
23:32You got to use your legs, man.
23:44You all right, dude?
23:46Never been a round like this
23:48in heavyweight boxing history
23:50between two such big men.
23:53This is the first knockdown.
23:55The right hand on top of the head,
23:57which disoriented Grant
24:00and had him weaving, holding on,
24:05looking to find his balance
24:07for the rest of the round.
24:09And that right hand appeared to finish him.
24:12How did he get out of it?
24:14Does he have anything left here?
24:16And now it's Lewis who goes on the attack.
24:20Lewis still got to be conservative.
24:22He should stick his left jab
24:24and start fainting a little bit now.
24:28Michael Grant, nothing else he has him doing.
24:32For any who still think the fight will go 12 rounds,
24:35Grant is now in a deep hole.
24:38Step back.
24:40This corner told him to use his legs,
24:42but I think just being big and using your strength...
24:47Break!
24:48It took amazing fortitude for Grant
24:50to get up from that third knockdown.
24:53The kind of fortitude he showed
24:55in surviving the first round against Gallardo.
24:58But Grant still doesn't have his legs,
25:00and Lewis is just teeing off.
25:03Break!
25:04That is a lot of weight.
25:06After you miss, you bump into something like that,
25:09and you can get pretty tired throwing shots.
25:11Lewis has better set it up with his left jab.
25:14Well, he's got his legs here for a moment.
25:17Don't waste your punches on big men.
25:20Let's go.
25:22George, this is survival here.
25:24For Lennox Lewis, better be conservative.
25:27You better know what you're throwing at.
25:30Lennox is being careful.
25:33He doesn't want to walk into a big right hand coming back.
25:36He's walking right into a big puncher.
25:38All right, let's go.
25:39Step aside, jab him, go to the body,
25:42then faint, come back on top.
25:44Don't just walk in.
25:45Forget about the first round.
25:47Start all over again.
25:48There he goes.
25:49Lewis beginning to pop the jab,
25:51and now Grant begins to get his senses back as well.
25:54Michael!
25:55Break!
25:56Stop holding, Mike, now.
26:04That's the thing about big guys fighting.
26:06There's not a lot of room in the ring
26:08for them not to cover up and start grabbing and pinching.
26:11Lewis landing the uppercut again,
26:13and he punches Grant into submission
26:15for the moment with the uppercut.
26:17But Michael still able to stand up.
26:19Hold on.
26:20Step back, Mike.
26:21You weather the storm,
26:22and the rounds can even get better for you.
26:28Lewis missed the uppercut, landed the right hand.
26:31But Lewis got a little taste of Grant's power that time also.
26:35Big mistake for Lewis not to be a little more skillful here.
26:40He need to be using his jab.
26:46And for the moment, Lewis looks punched out
26:49as he lands another uppercut
26:51and blows Grant for the fourth time.
26:59This time, I don't think so.
27:01That's it, my man.
27:02That's it.
27:03That's it, my man.
27:04That's it.
27:05That's it.
27:06That's it.
27:07I got you.
27:08The plan to attack Lennox Lewis just backfired.
27:15Big time.
27:17Need to be conservative.
27:19Let the fight go along.
27:20Get some advantages.
27:21He didn't do that.
27:22The punch with which Lennox Lewis
27:24finally bested Evander Holyfield last November
27:27was his right uppercut.
27:29The punch with which he finished this fight
27:32was his right uppercut.
27:34People are going to begin to learn
27:36you don't give Lewis a chance to throw that punch
27:39when it matters.
27:41Boy.
27:43Well, good fight for heavyweights.
27:45That was exciting, wasn't it?
27:46What a bravery for Grant.
27:48Oh, man.
27:49Where did he get the heart?
27:50He get a paycheck.
27:51He deserves it.
27:53Well, you got fireworks.
27:56We waited all year last year for fireworks
27:58in the heavyweight division,
27:59and we finally got them here.
28:01This is one of those games where
28:03four minutes of action can be better
28:06than an hour of inaction.
28:08Ooh.
28:09Over the top, he's holding him,
28:10and he lands that uppercut.
28:12Absolutely right.
28:13Got away with holding the head
28:14while he landed the uppercut.
28:16Grant should not have been down there.
28:19Ooh.
28:21That hurts.
28:22Lennox Lewis is a puncher.
28:26There are gonna be a lot of fans
28:28looking at this, George,
28:29and wondering, well,
28:30he seemed to have Holyfield outmatched.
28:33Why wasn't he able to do that
28:35against Evander, who weighed 217,
28:38when it was easy to do it
28:39against Grant, who weighed 250?
28:41Grant did a foolish thing.
28:42He attacked this heavyweight champion,
28:44and he's the same height and even taller.
28:47You attack him if you're lower.
28:49Don't stand up in that high ground.
28:50Yeah, and Holyfield didn't do a lot of punching.
28:54because he was afraid of this.
28:56Tried to slow the fight down, and he did.
29:02So Lennox Lewis solidifies his hold
29:05on the heavyweight title.
29:07I'm strong.
29:09I'm strong.
29:14Good job, gentlemen.
29:17That's a lot of questions.
29:22And the disappointed Grant,
29:24frustrated that he has no more chance tonight,
29:28thinking, misguidedly,
29:30that he could have continued.
29:31Let's go to Michael Buffer
29:32for the official particulars.
29:34Ladies and gentlemen,
29:36the end comes at 2 minutes,
29:3953 seconds into round number 2.
29:43The winner by knockout victory
29:45and still the universally recognized,
29:49undisputed, true heavyweight champion of the world,
29:55from East London, England,
29:58Lennox Lewis!
30:11As George Foreman called him,
30:13the most American of foreign champions,
30:16and certainly this will increase his popularity in America
30:20where fans like punchers.
30:22They like knockouts.
30:23And this is it.
30:24He's the house fighter here tonight.
30:26The garden people,
30:27they saw him do good against Evander Holyfield.
30:29Now they've seen him even do better tonight.
30:3147 out of 83.
30:33Of course, a fair amount of it was target practice
30:36after he got Grant in trouble
30:38with the big right hands
30:40in the middle of the first round.
30:42Grant didn't do too badly,
30:44landing 22 out of 47,
30:46but he was unable to do the necessary damage early
30:50when he landed on Lewis
30:52before Lewis was ready to go.
30:54It was that reggae music he came in to ring with.
30:57He was jumping and jumping and jumping.
31:00Power punches, Grant 15 out of 34,
31:03Lewis 34 out of 64.
31:05It was a clinic with the uppercut once he got it going.
31:09And a knockout victory for Lewis
31:11the most explosive showing of his career.
31:14Let's go to Larry Merchant in the ring.
31:17All right, thank you, Jim.
31:19You thought that because of what happened
31:22in Grant's last fight with Gallardo
31:24when he got knocked down in the first round
31:27that he wouldn't be so bold.
31:30Were you shocked that he came at you the way he did?
31:33Yeah, I was shocked.
31:34I said, if he came at me,
31:36it was gonna be a sure fight, you know?
31:38I was surprised when they said
31:39he was gonna come at me, straight at me.
31:41I was surprised because I'm the hardest fight
31:43in his whole career.
31:44He's been boxing against B-class opponents.
31:46Now he's moved up against A-class opponents.
31:49And I was really surprised.
31:51What were your thoughts at that moment?
31:53Did it take you a moment to gather yourself and say,
31:56okay, I'm just gonna wait and see, look for openings?
32:00Yeah, I realized that, you know,
32:02after I was throwing my jab,
32:03he kept on putting his head down.
32:05So, you know, I realized I got more superior speed.
32:08He's never seen a boxer like me, so, you know,
32:10I felt very confident going in there.
32:12Did anything he threw at you and landed
32:15have any effect on you?
32:18No, not really, because most of the time
32:20I seen when he was winding up.
32:22You know, he came in there pretty gutsy.
32:24He's a good young fighter.
32:26He's definitely should keep it up.
32:28We're going to take a look at the final knockdown
32:32that resulted in the end of this fight.
32:34And I want you to look at it and tell me.
32:36Now, don't you, aren't you holding him
32:38at the same time as you're punching him?
32:41Well, no, not really.
32:43He was actually put, he put his head down.
32:45So I just kept his head in one position
32:47so I could get a good shot at him.
32:50Could you tell that after the knockdowns in the first round
32:55that he wasn't all there coming out in the second round?
32:59Well, I realized, you know, if I hit him and he went down,
33:02all I have to do is keep on hitting him.
33:04Like I said, you know, he got up against Golota,
33:06but if he dared to get up against me, I'll just hit him again.
33:09And, you know, more time is just going to be harder and harder.
33:13Your trainer, Emmanuel Stewart, has wanted you to be aggressive.
33:19Says that you have needed to show passion
33:23to go after your opponents
33:25to produce exciting, dramatic results.
33:30Have you been listening to him too well?
33:33Is this what you were hoping for?
33:35You know, I say styles make fights, you know,
33:38and I believe that Michael Grant was a perfect style
33:40for me to showcase some of my talent.
33:42You know, if he would have moved in the later rounds,
33:44I would have showed a bit more.
33:46But, you know, I don't get paid for overtime.
33:48So, in effect, you're saying that you are who you are,
33:52and if the fighter comes to you,
33:54then he can expect the fire, the incoming,
33:58as well as the outgoing.
34:00I just come to conquer. That's all.
34:02I just come to conquer.
34:03Any guy that steps in front of me
34:05gets knocked out straight away, you know what I mean?
34:08After two major fights,
34:10the two biggest fights of your life last year
34:12against Armando Holyfield,
34:14and finally conquering the mountain,
34:17get to where you wanted for so many years,
34:20were you either concerned
34:22that maybe unconsciously you would let down here,
34:25or did you feel this is going to even make you better somehow?
34:29It's just going to make me better.
34:30I improve with each fight.
34:31You know, the two fights against Armando Holyfield
34:33were just, you know, just one step to greatness.
34:37Thank you very much.
34:38You were great tonight, Maddox Lewis.
34:40I'd just like to thank the Boxers Riders of America
34:43for voting me best boxer of the year.
34:46Enough respect to them. Thank you.
34:48Once again.
34:49Jim?
34:50All right. Thank you very much.
34:51Well, George, you suggested before the fight
34:53that it was a bad idea for him to be the manager
34:55and pick the opponent.
34:56He proved you wrong on that one.
34:57Oh, he proved me wrong.
34:58That's the way I like it, though.
35:00He's proven wrong.
35:01Here's the new conventional wisdom I'll throw at you.
35:03He's still growing as a fighter.
35:05He hasn't taken a lot of punishment.
35:07He's a relatively young 34.
35:09He could rule for years to come.
35:11I said that you pick those roses, you'll get scratchy.
35:14You saw what happened to his mouth early in the round.
35:16Yeah.
35:17Now, this guy can be around a long time
35:18because of this left jab.
35:20He didn't use it tonight.
35:21He should have,
35:22but I think he's going to get better and better and better,
35:24and he should retire at about 45.
35:26Well, he uses different skills in every fight.
35:28I mean, the fight that he fought tonight
35:30is not what you expect out of the guy
35:31that you saw against Holyfield last year.
35:33Oh, he felt like an American tonight.
35:35Let's go back to the American Larry Merchant
35:37with the American Michael Grant.
35:39Okay.
35:40Thank you very much again, Jim.
35:42Michael, did you execute the game plan
35:46and get executed in the process?
35:49You know, Jim, I think I...
35:52Larry, I was just too anxious and everything.
35:56You know, a lot of people look at me
35:58to go ahead and bring this thing home,
36:00and I wanted to do that for me
36:02and for everybody who supported me,
36:03and, you know, I felt a lot of love
36:05in Madison Square Garden tonight,
36:07and I'll never forget that.
36:09This has been pretty much the biggest shot in my career,
36:12and, no, I didn't.
36:14I didn't execute the thing that I should have did.
36:16Are you saying that somehow you got caught up
36:19in the excitement of this
36:22and perhaps went out too fast
36:24or perhaps went out in a way
36:26in which you were attacking but not defending at all?
36:30That I was. I was attacking.
36:32But before we get into the answer,
36:34let me give honor to God and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
36:37I know things didn't work out the way I wanted to,
36:39but that was God's will, the way it happened right there.
36:42But, no, I didn't attack.
36:44I mean, things didn't happen the way they should have happened
36:48as far as what my corner wanted me to do.
36:50I know I went down.
36:51I seen a lot of openness.
36:52The guy had his hand down,
36:53so I wanted to take advantage of that stuff.
36:56And, obviously, he's swinging on wide left hooks
36:59because he knew that I was a smart fighter.
37:02I give credit to Leonard. He was a smart fighter.
37:04He knew I was going to come after that head.
37:06He had it wide open, and he did the correct thing.
37:09He threw an overhand hook to catch me around the backside
37:13and lock my equilibrium off, and there I was.
37:15I went down.
37:17So did you ever regain your equilibrium between rounds?
37:21Were you able to restore yourself to any degree
37:24when you came out in the second round?
37:26What were you feeling?
37:27Yeah, I felt good. I felt good.
37:28I was restoring everything.
37:30I wasn't hurt still.
37:31When I sat down in the corner and got maybe 30-second rest,
37:34I was ready to roll back.
37:35I didn't even want to sit no more.
37:37I was ready to get back out there and fight
37:38because the guy knocked me down, and he made me mad.
37:41I didn't want to get out there
37:42and just try to do what I had to do.
37:43All right, let's take a look at the final knockdown,
37:46and you tell us what you saw
37:48because it's apparent in these pictures
37:51that he was holding you, or were you just bending down?
37:55Tell us what you see.
38:00He threw a jab, and I threw a jab.
38:03At that point right there, I think I was leaning in too far.
38:06He brought a punch under.
38:08Lennox leans his weight on him, which is a smart idea.
38:11If the ref ain't going to say nothing about it,
38:13it's a good thing to do.
38:14Lean your weight on your opponent and everything
38:16and until the ref breaks you up,
38:18you can do what you want pretty much
38:19to the ref saying anything about it.
38:21But he leaned on me and everything,
38:23then he wanted to get sneaky with me,
38:24threw a short uppercut in there,
38:27probably hit me on the chin or on the neck or somewhere
38:29and just wicked my equilibrium.
38:32If you had it to do all over again,
38:34would you trust your boxing skills more than you did tonight?
38:39Absolutely, absolutely.
38:43I went to a straight grudge match,
38:45and I shouldn't have did that.
38:47That was stupidity on my part, but hey, I'm learning.
38:49I learned this game, and I got to give thanks.
38:52Larry, you know, I came a long way
38:54in a short period of time through my dedication.
38:56So we can assume that we'll see Michael Grant again.
38:59Oh, it ain't over till the fat lady sing
39:01and everybody here wearing a size 6 dress.
39:04Thank you very much, Michael.
39:08The first loss of Michael Grant's career,
39:11was a defeat to which he responded
39:13with sportsman-like disappointment,
39:15not with bitterness.
39:17And one of the biggest victories of Lennox Lewis' career,
39:20but we've said that many times before.
39:23George Foreman, let's look back now at the first round,
39:26which really in retrospect is the critical round
39:28because it sows the seeds of Grant's destruction.
39:31And we'll look at it from our hand-held ringside camera.
39:34You tell us what you saw.
39:36Don Turner had told his fighter
39:38that he didn't believe Lennox Lewis liked pressure.
39:40From the beginning, it was clear they weren't kidding.
39:42Grant wanted to hit him hard and hit him early.
39:50And what I'm looking at tonight was a surprise to me.
39:54Grant looking so much stronger,
39:56but it's Lewis who's commanding the strength,
39:59breaks it up, and he starts the action whenever he wants.
40:02He's recovering good from the right-hand's land
40:04and the misses, keeping his pause.
40:06But it wasn't about experience tonight.
40:08It was about strength.
40:11In clinches against Evander Holyfield,
40:14Lewis was able to push Holyfield around the ring
40:16and move him where he wanted.
40:18He wasn't expected to be able to do that against Grant.
40:20Not at all. As a matter of fact,
40:22this may have been a surprise to him,
40:24to command, hold when you want, push him away,
40:27and then stand your ground.
40:29Tonight, Lewis was the stronger guy.
40:31I didn't expect that.
40:34Now, at this point, Grant seemed confident,
40:37having landed a couple of right hands
40:39and maybe feeling as though he had done some damage.
40:42And Lewis puts his weight down on his back.
40:44This is what you do to inexperienced fighters.
40:46Put your chin right in the middle of the back,
40:48hold him down a little bit, hold him on top when you want.
40:52He's doing everything that you need to do when you're stronger.
40:55So already the difference in experience
40:57was a factor as well as the difference in strength.
40:59Yeah, I like the difference in strength
41:01a lot more than experience,
41:02because Lewis is doing a lot of things
41:05throwing on top and not aiming his shots.
41:07Oh, but the uppercut was the difference.
41:10The uppercut is bread-and-butter punch
41:12against Holyfield in the second fight,
41:14and it did a lot of the damage tonight.
41:16Yeah, and it's landing in the right spots
41:18only because Grant's head is right there
41:21where this big man can really land the power shot.
41:24He didn't have to go beneath his waist,
41:26as he did with Holyfield.
41:28Now, you pointed out during our coverage
41:31that Lewis might have done a better job of finishing
41:33if he had gone back to the jab,
41:35but Grant's legs were gone at this moment.
41:37Yeah, he did the right thing.
41:39He stayed right on him.
41:40I was surprised an experienced fighter
41:42would go out there and throw so much of his endurance away,
41:45because this fighter could have lasted a couple more rounds,
41:48and he could have been out there without a lot of strength.
41:51So Lewis took a bit of a chance.
41:53He took a big chance,
41:55but that's what we're buying tickets to see these days.
41:58We're looking for fighters to take chances.
42:00I think the heavyweight division needed this fight.
42:03Now, at the end of the round,
42:05Lewis put Grant down with a brilliant right cross,
42:08and I, for one, did not think the challenger was going to get up.
42:12There's another one of those uppercuts.
42:14And, you know, the good thing about it,
42:16he's able to look Grant right in the eye
42:18and throw this right hand without ducking,
42:20as he had to do beforehand.
42:22But, surprisingly to many of us at ringside,
42:25the courageous Grant got up to make it into the second round.
42:30This may have made this the most exciting heavyweight fight
42:33in a long time, because Grant kept getting up.
42:37So, fresh off winning the championship,
42:39Lewis takes on the consensus number one contender
42:42in his first defense and makes shockingly easy work of him.
42:46Now you look around and wonder,
42:48who else is a candidate to knock the crown off of Lewis' head?
42:51And the next answer is David Tua,
42:53an entirely different kind of fighter, George,
42:56seven inches shorter or more,
42:58seven inches shorter or more than Grant.
43:01Better chance?
43:02Better chance, because Lewis doesn't like looking down,
43:06doesn't like trying to find his target.
43:09Get lower, lower than his waist.
43:11I think that Tua would have an excellent chance.
43:13A lot better than Grant tonight.
43:14All right. Larry Merchant,
43:17it's been a long struggle,
43:19and Lennox Lewis has earned that best grudging respect
43:23from the American boxing press.
43:25So what does he get for this? More grudging respect?
43:27Well, he might have added one or two people onto his bandwagon.
43:31Jim, I'm convinced that if he did this six more times
43:35and he lost on the seventh time,
43:37they'll say, see, we told you all the time.
43:39He just wasn't that good of a heavyweight.
43:41What we saw tonight, I think,
43:43is that Lennox Lewis simply adapts
43:46to the fighter he's fighting with.
43:48His fights with Holyfield were 12-round boxing events
43:53because Holyfield didn't want to take the lead,
43:56didn't want to take many risks,
43:58and consequently, Lewis says,
44:00well, I'm not going to take any risks either.
44:02I can beat you without having to take a risk.
44:04He went in against a guy trying to take his head off.
44:06Lennox Lewis says, OK, I'll take your head off.
44:10He gave everybody excitement.
44:12He gave us a jolt in the heavyweight division
44:15that I think we were all hoping for one of these days.
44:19Onward and upward, and so it goes.
44:22Yeah, to London in July,
44:24where Lennox Lewis is next expected to defend
44:27the heavyweight championship of the world.
44:29Meanwhile, we have a brand-new boxing telecast
44:32debuting this weekend on HBO.
44:35Something entirely different.
44:37It's called KO Nation.
44:39And for more on it, let's go to a new friend,
44:42Fran Charles in Pittsburgh, PA.
44:46Welcome to the Steel City, where right now
44:48it is quiet inside Mellon Arena.
44:50But come Saturday afternoon,
44:52the igloo will be on fire for the premiere of KO Nation.
44:56Hello again, everyone. I'm Fran Charles,
44:58alongside two-time featherweight champion Kevin Kelly,
45:01where Pittsburgh's own Paul Spadafora
45:03will put his lightweight championship belt
45:05on the line against Michael Griffith.
45:07But, Kevin, before we get to that fight,
45:09let's talk about the fight we just saw.
45:11In your estimation, did Lennox Lewis add to his claim
45:14that he is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time,
45:17or was Michael Grant's inexperience more of a factor?
45:20Well, the inexperience of Michael Grant
45:22definitely helped his claim to fame.
45:24It definitely helped Lennox Lewis look sharp,
45:26strong, and motivated.
45:28Lennox Lewis came across that ring like a freight train,
45:31plowed down Michael Grant, got him out of there.
45:34Now Michael Grant has to go back to the lab
45:36for some more fights, some more experience,
45:38which he lacked in the first fight,
45:40in order to get another world title shot.
45:42Okay, Kevin, as for KO Nation,
45:44we promised to bring you boxing like you've never seen it before.
45:48Crews have been working day and night
45:50to build you an elaborate set.
45:52We have a whole cast of characters,
45:54including TV and radio personality Ed Lover.
45:56He'll be our host.
45:58New York City DJ Max Glazer will be on the turntables.
46:01And we'll also debut our dancers, the Knockouts.
46:03So plenty of action outside the ring.
46:05But inside the ring, Spadafore and Griffith,
46:08the lightweight championship on the line,
46:10two fighters who throw a lot of punches,
46:12but they can also take a punch.
46:14Well, you got the Bull versus the Matador.
46:17The Matador is going to try to tame the Bull,
46:19and that's what we're going to see tonight.
46:21Quicks Spadafore, left and right.
46:23The premiere of KO Nation Saturday afternoon.
46:26Join us for a party in Pittsburgh.
46:28For Kevin Kelly, I'm Fran Charles.
46:30Let's head back to Jim Lampley at Madison Square Garden.
46:33♪♪
46:43Thank you very much, Fran.
46:45We look forward to the premiere of KO Nation.
46:47And we look forward to having you with us
46:49for our next edition of HBO's World Championship Boxing.
46:53On May 13, World Championship Boxing
46:55returns with two title fights featuring Roy Jones
46:58defending his light heavyweight crown against Richard Hall
47:00and middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins
47:02taking on Sid Vanderpool.
47:04HBO, the heart and soul of boxing.
47:07Then on May 15, the premiere of Real Sports with Brian Gumbel.
47:10Some of the stories to be featured include
47:13of San Antonio's Sean Elliott from a kidney transplant,
47:16Philadelphia Flyer head coach Roger Nielsen's battle against cancer,
47:19and a look at baseball fantasy camps.
47:22Real Sports, where nothing is out of bounds.
47:25Coming up next,
47:31Now for Larry Merchant, George Foreman, and Harold Lederman.
47:34I'm Jim Lampley saying so long
47:36from New York's Madison Square Garden.
47:38The executive producer of HBO Sports is Ross Greenberg.
47:41Lewis vs. Grant was produced by Rick Bernstein
47:44and directed by Mark Payton.
47:46Associate directors Greg Backer, Kirby Bradley, and Michael Whalen.
47:49Assistant to the producer, Thomas Huffine.
47:51The production manager, Mark Hayden.
47:53The technical supervisor, Bob Hunter.
47:55And the technical director, Douglas Getz.
47:59He's risen above the gang-infested streets of Albuquerque
48:02to become a hometown hero.
48:05He's thwarted inner demons and chemical dependencies
48:08to climb to the top of his sport.
48:11He's been a champion of the world
48:14and he's been a champion of the world.
48:17He's been a champion of the world
48:20and he's been a champion of the world.
48:23He's been a champion of the world
48:26and he's been a champion of the world.
48:29He's bounced back from his only professional defeat
48:32to win his fourth world title.