The big Briton raised his fist in salute to the crowd of about 200 people
at Johannesburg's airport as dancers stamped and undulated, beating out a song
welcoming "the lion" to Africa.
A real lion cub was on the tarmac, but the two failed to meet.
The 36-year-old boxer was accompanied by his diminutive mother, Violet
Blake, who cooks for her bachelor son.
He will climb through the ropes at about 5:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) at Brakpan,
close to Johannesburg, on April 22 to fight challenger Hasim Rahman of the
United States. That time has been chosen to ensure prime-time television
coverage in the United States.
The fight - for the World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation
and International Boxing Organization belts - will be the first heavyweight
championship in Africa for 26 years. Promoters are dubbing it "Thunder in
Africa."
The last - "The rumble in the jungle" - saw Muhammad Ali beat George
Foreman in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1974.
One of his supporters, who was waving a flag with the words: "Rahman
beware, Lewis is champion," said he believed the boxer had come to win.
"He's not just a boxer, he's also an intellectual when it comes to
fighting," said an awestruck Mthunzi Rataza, from western Johannesburg.
Lewis' business manager Adrian Ogun said "Madiba magic" - a term used to
describe the inspiration people get from former South African president Nelson
Mandela - had inspired Lewis.
The boxer, surrounded by security guards on a balcony, shouted "Viva Madiba
magic" to a roar of appreciation from the crowd.
Mandela, who was a keen amateur boxer in his youth, and said in 1998, "My
greatest regret in life is that I never became the heavyweight boxing champion
of the world," has promised to watch the fight if commitments allow.
Statuettes of the president as a boxer will be presented to Lewis and
Rahman before the bout.
"He (Lewis) believes in that Madiba magic," Ogun told AFP. "He is returning
to his homeland."
Lewis is expected to announce his plans for his training at a press
conference on Wednesday.