Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis believes the referee's count was too quick when he was knocked out by Hasim Rahman in their world title clash in South Africa last April. At a news conference held yesterday to promote the November 17 rematch between the two heavyweights, Lewis said: "I wasn't able to get off the canvas in time because the referee was counting too fast".
Although Lewis tried to appear like a gracious loser, at the same time he also verbally put down Rahman. Lewis said he did not want to take anything away from Rahman's win but later he described the American as a "freshman in the game".
Lewis, who said he would retire if Rahman defeated him again, insisted it was merely a lucky punch that beat him last time around and that he had now completely recovered from the loss of his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council titles. However, he did admit that he was "humiliated" by the knockout, but added: "I'm a great champion. This is just a math question for me which I need to go solve".
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
