By ED SCHUYLER JR.
NEW YORK (April 26, 2000 4:32 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - Michael Grant believes he knows how his challenge to heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis will end.
"If you ask me to make a prediction . . . the 10th round has been very good to me," Grant said.
Two Grant's last three victories were on 10th-round technical knockouts. In
the last one, he got up from two first-round knockdowns and beat Andrew Golota
on Nov. 20.
Lewis says he doesn't know the script. But he knows the ending of the
12-round fight Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
"I never make any prediction in my fights," Lewis said Wednesday at the
final news conference. "The only prediction I will make is that Lennox Lewis
will be victorious."
The champion from Britain then made another prediction.
"My next fight after this fight will definitely be in England," he said.
He added that he was not slighting Grant (31-0, 22 knockouts).
"Every time I step into the ring it's a serious fight," said the
34-year-old Lewis. "When you have a man weighing 250 pounds trying to take
your head off, you've got to be serious."
The 27-year-old Grant stands 6-foot-7, two inches taller than Lewis. He
weighed from 250 to 256 pounds in his last five fights, and he is expected to
be at least 250 at the official weigh-in Thursday. Lewis (35-1-1, 27 knockouts)
weighed 242 when he outpointed Evander Holyfield in their rematch Nov. 20, and
he is expected to weigh in that range again.
By the time of the 5 p.m. EDT weigh-in, a squabble of gloves should be
settled.
Lewis said Reyes gloves will be worn. Grant said he has a problem with them.
"Michael says the gloves don't fit his hands," Lewis said. "I find that hard to believe, because he doesn't have bigger hands than me."
"I tried on 16 pairs," Grant said. "If they want to come up with another 16, OK. My right hand fits well, but my left is uncomfortable, If we can use Reyes, OK. If not we have a problem."
It's the kind of problem that can be solved when a fighter is guaranteed a reported $4 million and is getting at chance at becoming heavyweight champion. Lewis reportedly is guaranteed $10 million.
The fight will be the fourth on a pay-per-view (TVKO) telecast beginning at
9 p.m. The main even is expected to start about 11:30 p.m.
Preceding the heavyweight title fight will be an IBF featherweight
championship defense by Paul Ingle (22-1, 15 knockouts) of England against
Junior Jones (47-4, 27 knockouts) of Brooklyn, N.Y.
The telecast will open with a 12-round heavyweight bout between Wladimir
Klitschko (32-1, 30 knockouts) of Ukraine, and David Bostice (21-1-1, 12
knockouts) of Mesa, Ariz. The other bout will be a 10-round welterweight match
between Arturo Gatti (31-4, 26 knockouts) of Jersey City, N.J., and Eric
Jakubowski of Whiting, Ind.
The New York State Athletic Commission has ordered the weigh-ins for
Ingle-Jones, Gatti-Jakubowski and other non-heavyweight fights on the card to
held at 8 a.m. Saturday. This decision upset both Ingle and Jones.
Unbeaten Michael Grant has predicted a 10th-round stoppage win over world
heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in their title showdown on Saturday, vowing to
pressure the British star until he cracks. "He doesn't like pressure," said Grant. "He tends to slow down in later
rounds. I come on strong. My job is to go out there and impose my will on him. "Pressure and speed are factors. In the past, Lewis was accustomed to
fighting at his own speed. You have to jump on top early and make him fight -
and I'm the right size to do that. "You have got to believe. I'm prepared to go the distance. I trained myself
to go the full 12 rounds and I'm ready to go the full 12 rounds." But asked how long he expected the fight to last, the American replied: "The
10th round looks pretty good to me." Both men are tall and muscular, which could lead to a high-powered punchout at
Madison Square Garden. But both have been reluctant to resort to brawling, preferring a tactical
approach. That's why Lewis expects a fast flurry from the former sparring
partner of ex-champion Evander Holyfield. "I expect him to come out to show how good he is early," Lewis said. "He
hasn't made any of his fights a brawl. Why try that against the champion?" At 27, Grant is seven years younger than Lewis. His 31-0 record includes 22
knockouts since 1994. But he is inexperienced compared to Lewis, 35-1 with one
drawn and 27 knockouts over 12 years. "My advantage is I am faster," Grant said. "I throw more combinations at
angles. I throw my punches not just at the midsection. I throw my punches
upstairs, then take it back down to the kitchen." Grant also has in his corner Don Turner, a veteran of 41 years as a trainer. The man who guided Holyfield through two fights with Lewis now has a bigger
fighter to share his knowledge with about Lewis' weak spots. But Lewis warned:
"Anything he learns, he will forget when he gets hit." Grant countered by going back to his favourite theme - pressure. "It all depends on how you handle pressure," he said. "I don't get excited.
I don't rush. I'm patient. It's how you react when you get hit. I like to hit
right back." Grant proved himself in a 10th-round stoppage of Poland's Andrew Golota last
November in Atlantic City, recovering from a knockdown to win. Grant had to handle the pressure of trailing to triumph and wants Lewis to
feel the same. "When you put that much pressure on a person, they try to gamble, go for it
in some way," Grant said. "You have to keep going, develop a pace he is not
accustomed to seeing." The best way to do that, Grant said, is to stay inside and trade punches with
Lewis, a risky proposition given the champion's powerful right hand. "I want to close the gap, not give him a chance to think, get my punch in
first," Grant said. "It's going to take everything that makes a champion (to
beat Lewis). You have to out-live the individual." AFPGRANT EYEING 10TH-ROUND WIN
