By ED SCHUYLER Jr., AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Lennox Lewis has seen "Ocean's Eleven," the remake of the heist movie that starred Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack in the 1960s.
"It looks pretty good," said Lewis, who took off three days while training to fight Hasim Rahman to shoot some boxing scenes for "Ocean's Eleven."
Lewis also has watched the tape of his bout against Rahman. Lewis didn't like the story line - a fifth-round knockout that cost him the WBC-IBF heavyweight titles he will try to regain Saturday night in Mandalay Bay at Las Vegas.
Lewis and trainer Emanuel Steward have spent time - too much time - putting a different spin on the loss.
"He just got hit coming off the ropes and his legs got tied up," Steward said. "He saw the punch coming, but couldn't do anything about it."
Lewis retreated across the ring, pursued by a jabbing Rahman. His back brushed the ropes, then he started to turn his torso to the right, with his gloves wide apart.
Rahman then crashed a right off Lewis' chin that dropped him in a heap.
"That punch that got through was his lottery punch," Lewis once said.
Rahman didn't throw the punch with his eyes closed. It wasn't a desperation punch. Lewis provided an inviting target, and Rahman simply hit the bull's eye.
"I got knocked down," Lewis said. "I was getting to my feet when the referee stopped it."
Lewis was knocked out. Period!
As the rematch has grown closer, Lewis has reduced his rationalizations of how he was upset at 5,200 feet above sea level April 22 in South Africa.
At first, he insisted, "It wasn't the altitude, and condition had nothing to do with it. I'm never out of shape."
Lewis, however, didn't show up in South Africa to get acclimated until two weeks before the fight, and he weighed a career-high 253 pounds. From the start of the fight, he was loading up with his right like a man who wanted to end it early because he knew his legs might not carry him for too many rounds.
He now says, "I should have taken him more seriously. I was a little lackadaisical. I now have more intensity, more focus."
He'd better have, because Rahman is not about to pull a James "Buster" Douglas act. After Douglas upset Mike Tyson, he went into the ring out of condition against Evander Holyfield in his first defense and got knocked out in the third round.
In a recent training session, Rahman sparred six 4-minute rounds with 30-second rest period.
There is plenty of incentive for Rahman, who wants to prove his victory wasn't a fluke. A victory would make him the premier heavyweight in the world and lead to a possible defense against Tyson that could produce a purse that could dwarf his minimum $10 million payday Saturday night.
At 36, a loss would be the last hurrah for Lewis, whose standing as a top heavyweight champion has been tarnished by two one-punch losses - to Rahman and to Oliver McCall in the second round in 1994.
He succeeded in making the McCall loss a misty memory to many in the boxing public by becoming undisputed champion before losing a piece of the title in court and by gaining sympathy with a controversial draw against Holyfield in a fight Lewis clearly won. He then beat Holyfield.
Lewis, however, does not have much time left to wipe away the loss to Rahman.
So he needs an impressive, even exciting victory Saturday night.
To achieve this, the often-caution Lewis might have to throw
caution to the wind. If he does, Rahman could hit the lottery
again.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Hasim Rahman was just finishing a workout when a woman's voice bellowed from the balcony of the arena where he will defend the heavyweight title Saturday night against Lennox Lewis.
"We love Lennox," she yelled.
Rahman couldn't resist, breaking into a wide grin as he stood in the corner of the ring and looked for the woman.
"I love him. I love him more than you," Rahman yelled out. "He gives me so much money. So much money."
Indeed, Rahman has $10 million worth of reasons to love Lewis, who mistakenly thought last April that he was in for an easy title defense against a fighter whose record gave him no reason to be too concerned.
Lewis, though, trained poorly and went to South Africa late after appearing in a movie being made in Las Vegas. And a right hand that connected beautifully in the fifth round gave Rahman the WBC and IBF heavyweight titles in one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history.
Seven months later, they meet in a bad-blood rematch that will do what Rahman wants - make him rich beyond his wildest dreams.
It also will either expose him as a one-punch wonder or establish him as a legitimate heavyweight champion.
"I know I humiliated him. I knocked him out and took his title," Rahman said. "He wants to prove it can't happen again and I want to prove it can. That's why this fight is so intriguing."
That's not the only reason. Rahman and Lewis wrestled on TV while promoting the fight and had to be separated on other occasions from going after each other for free.
If Rahman's punch didn't intimidate Lewis, he has tried to do it with words, questioning the former champion's sexuality and heart in comments that clearly angered and agitated a fighter who has always prided himself on his calm demeanor.
"I hope he is angry. That's my whole objective," Rahman said. "I think it will make for a better fight for everybody. Once he's out of his script, he's lost."
Lewis is a 7-2 favorite to regain the crowns he lost in South Africa against a late bloomer who was thought to be nothing more than a journeyman heavyweight. History is not on Lewis' side, as 10 of 13 heavyweight champions who lost the title failed to win it back in rematches.
Lewis, at 36, is coming off the second one-punch knockout loss of his career - the first was to Oliver McCall in 1994. He needs not only to win, but also to look impressive to bolster his claim that he is one of the great champions of his era.
"He's just another heavyweight out there with a great punch," Lewis said of Rahman. "I know in this fight I won't get hit like that. I'm a pugilistic specialist. Whatever Rahman brings, I'll have an answer for."
Lewis didn't have an answer when Rahman, bleeding from a cut near his eye, landed a right hand flush on Lewis' jaw that put him down for the count in the first fight. The outcome of the scheduled 12-round fight at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino could depend on how active Lewis wants to be in the ring.
Lewis is clearly the better boxer and has the edge in experience, but Rahman is oozing with confidence and has the bigger punch.
"I feel like I'm playing with my child," the 29-year-old Rahman said. "I get better respect from my child, though. It's better competition"
Rahman (35-2, 29 knockouts) spent most of the week leading up to the fight wandering through the resort with his entourage, clearly enjoying his stature as the heavyweight champion.
Lewis, meanwhile, was holed up for the most part and made sure he kept away from Rahman during scheduled training sessions.
"I don't really dislike him, but he's really motivated me," Lewis said. "I'd like to thank him for that."
Lewis (38-2-1, 29 knockouts) appeared on his way to cementing his stature as the dominant heavyweight of his time after beating Evander Holyfield, followed by knockout wins over Michael Grant and Francois Botha.
But Lewis' loss in South Africa brought up questions again about his chin and whether he was too soft.
"There's no need getting too excited and dramatic about it," said Lewis' trainer, Emanuel Steward. "We just need to be in good shape and have a little more intensity."
Lewis appears to be taking this fight seriously, weighing in Thursday at 246 1/2 pounds, 6 1/2 less than his career high 253 pounds when he and Rahman fought April 22. Rahman weighed 236 pounds, two pounds less than when he and Lewis first met.
The fight is being televised on pay-per-view, with the telecast beginning about 9 p.m. EST and the main event about midnight.