Polished Lewis sees off Tua
Lennox Lewis sent a message out to Mike Tyson with a routine victory over the New Zealander David Tua.
It was a far from spectacular display, but, after Tua had threatened to catch the champion with one of his explosive left-hooks in the early rounds, the champion used his size advantage to dominate totally.
"I did the best that I could," Tua said. "Things didn't work out for me but I stuck with it. Lennox is a great champion, he came out and he did what he had to do. He's a very good fighter."
Lewis entered the ring looking as relaxed as ever - and carried that calm into the fight, allowing Tua to let off steam in the early rounds while he kept the challenger at bay with his superior reach.
With the last shot of the second round Tua got through Lewis' defences with a hook, but it was only a glancing blow and it was as close as the New Zealander would get to knocking out his opponent.
But, while Lewis was in control, the challenger seemed unfazed and it soon became clear that this was not going to be a two-round destruction like Lewis' last two fights against Frans Botha and Michael Grant.
With his dangerous punching power, Tua could never be written off, but as the fight wore on the champion used his 15-inch reach advantage to dominate.The crowd soon became restless with Lewis' lack of aggression, and the majority were supporting the challenger, hoping one of his crushing hook shots would explode this fight
But Lewis has never been a crowd-pleaser, and he was happy to use his physical advantage to pick the challenger off.
The judges were unanimous in giving the victory to Lewis.
In truth it was an unspectacular victory, but it was completely dominant, and the obvious question now is will Lewis face Tyson next?
Given the similarity of styles between Tua and Tyson, Lewis can be confident if the two of them ever actually get it on.It is the fight the world wants, and it is the fight Lewis feels he needs to establish himself as one of the all-time greats. Otherwise we will have to take Lewis at his word that retirement is on the cards.
At the age of 35 Lewis can not keep waiting for ever, and, with no other credible opponents out there, the time is surely right for Lewis and Tyson to get it on.