BRAKPAN, South Africa (Reuters) - World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis says his mind is on his upcoming bout with American Hasim Rahman, and not a possible fight with Mike Tyson.
"Every fight I take seriously...as for Tyson, I'm not thinking about him," Lewis told a news conference at Carnival City near Johannesburg, where the April 22 fight will take place.
"I think this fight is going to be a great fight. Mr. Rahman...is here to take my title," said Lewis, who calls Britain his home but who learned to box in Canada, where he spent his formative years.
But Lewis said he had no plans to go the distance.
"My aim is to go in there and knock him (Rahman) out. I'm still a young cat and still ready to rumble," said Lewis, who at 35 is no longer young by boxing standards.
Rahman agreed that it would be a good scrap and said he was determined to win.
"I definitely don't plan to stick to the script...I'm just here to upset some things," said Rahman.
"I'm prepared for this fight...and I want the title. I look at Lennox and he's just a man," Rahman said.
A relative unknown, the 1.89-metre, 100-kg fighter from Baltimore has been given little chance of beating Lewis, a 1.96-metre former Olympic gold medallist, who can be devastating when he is on form.
Rahman has a record of 34 victories against two losses with 28 knockouts.
Many see the fight as a warm-up for Lewis before a long-awaited showdown with Tyson, who is scheduled to fight Nigerian David Izon on May 19.
Lewis added that he had come to South Africa because of former President Nelson Mandela and that he told Mandela he would "spread some Madiba magic."
Madiba is Mandela's clan name and the liberation fighter turned statesman is a former amateur boxer and keen fan of the sport.
Lewis also invoked the name of another black icon, boxing legend Mohammed Ali, who he said inspired him when he was young.
"He's (Ali) been to Africa and I decided I had to go," said Lewis.
Ali was the upset victor in the first heavyweight championship bout ever staged in Africa when he reclaimed the
title with an eighth round knockout over George Foreman in Kinshasa, capital of the former Zaire, in 1974.
Lennox Lewis talks tough at press conference for Rahman bout
In a joint news conference marking the first meeting of the boxers, Lewis
said that wouldn't happen.
"He's trying to get my titles ... right now," Lewis said. "I'm not going
to allow that."
Lewis said he was looking forward to the fight April 22 because it was his
first bout in Africa, where his childhood hero, Mohammed Ali, once fought. Ali
beat George Foreman in 1974 in Zaire, the central African country now known as
Congo.
Rahman thanked Lewis for giving him a shot at the title and declared that he
was prepared, focused and hungry. Jokingly, Rahman promised he would give Lewis
a rematch after he had won the title.
"I'm just not giving it up," Rahman said. "I look at Lewis as just a man.
Regardless of what he's accomplished, he's still a man."