By David Field, PA Sport, New York
Lennox Lewis will be back in training camp at the end of the month, preparing for his July defence against Frans Botha in London.
The champion therefore has only limited time to sit back after his destruction of Michael Grant at Madison Square Garden on Saturday before it is back to the roadwork and gymnasium toil.
At almost 35, Lewis may be rich, famous and undisputed in the eyes of the boxing world but he is not diverted from the truth that sweat and strain is the only route to success.
"The training is time-consuming, but it's a necessary type of time-consuming. To stay at the top, guys reaching this point have to sacrifice a lot," said Lewis.
"Grant sacrificed three months for me. I'm a competitor; I need I have to go into camp and train. I don't want be slacking. It's a big sacrifice for a small moment."
Lewis has energy to burn after dispatching Grant in five minutes 53 seconds in a fight of three knockdowns, the first of which was long from referee Arthur Mercante jr and was reckoned to be timed at 13 seconds.
He is already predicting a short night for Botha, the former IBF champion who unlike Grant has mixed in world class.
It is Lewis' first British appearance since he lost the WBC title in his first term to Oliver McCall in a two-round shock at Wembley in September, 1994. IBF top contender David Tua will then follow in November.
"Botha? He's getting knocked out; simple as that," added Lewis.
"I don't take anybody lightly. He's got some natural boxing ability. But he's never seen a boxer like me, and I'm going to tell him.
"It's time for the British public to see me again. They saw me in a situation which was not too good; now I'm undisputed champion, and they get a chance to see me in that light - which is a better light.
"It's like I've gone away. I've worked and I've sacrificed, have been in the other man's backyard - his home turf - and still survived, and I'm now coming back to my backyard. My fans are wanting to see me."
"The McCall fight was the only loss on my record. It was a learning experience, and then I came back and made him cry. If you really look at it deeply I didn't really lose; I lost it to myself and came back and made it up."
Lewis' most recent success was made easier, he reckons, by the fear his opponent showed.
"I was surprised at Grant's body language," he said.
"Some people are able to take it as a positive; when they are nervous they usually do well. In his situation he was nervous and he showed it. I don't think he had that confidence. Their fight plan wasn't wise. I think he was beaten in the dressing room. I was dancing in mine."
Mike Tyson is still the name on everybody's lips as a potential opponent for Lewis, even though the former undisputed champion has his own agenda with the rival Showtime cable network and is due to fight Lou Savarese on June 24.
The fact that Savarese was beaten on points by Grant in June - along with the latter's battering by Lewis - means Savarese does not add up to a serious match for Tyson.
Lewis asserted: "Tyson knows where to find me. I'm at the top, undisputed. But he's in movies right now, and that is taking up most of his interest."
American writer Wallace Matthews, highly critical of Lewis's performance, seized on that comment in the New York Post.
He wrote: "If he fights (Tyson) the way he did against Grant he may be the one who winds up seeing stars."
By David Field, PA Sport, New York
A showdown between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson moved a big step closer after Jose Sulaiman, one of the most powerful figures in boxing, announced his backing for a meeting between the two heavyweights.
Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), believes rivalry between the two pay-per-view TV stations which bankroll the fighters can be ironed out.
"I believe Tyson will fight Lewis provided there is a big enough purse offer," said Sulaiman.
Lewis, who retained his WBC and IBF titles when he stopped Michael Grant in two rounds in New York on Saturday, is contracted to HBO (Home Box Office), while Tyson's paymasters are Showtime.
"Boxing cannot accept monopolies, even from the devil," declared Sulaiman, "and I believe the fight will happen."
