LEWIS' RETIREMENT LEAVES PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR HEAVIES LIKE MESI

Joe Mesi isn't scheduled to fight until next month, but he took a big step toward landing a shot at a world title last week.

As did every other heavyweight in the boxing world.

Lennox Lewis' retirement leaves the top step of the heavyweight ladder tantalizingly empty. Thanks to the idiocy of the sport's ruling bodies, the Brit-turned-Canadian-turned-Brit possessed only one of the major heavyweight titles when he retired. But while there's no shortage of belt-holders, not one could make a credible claim that anyone but Lewis was the true champion.

Lewis not only walked away from a mega-millions rematch with Vitali Klitschko, whom he rallied to stop on a grotesque cut in what he vows was his final fight, he left the real heavyweight championship, the one with a lineage that runs back to the 19th century and John L. Sullivan, wide open.

Klitschko is expected to meet Corey Sanders for Lewis' World Boxing Council belt. The South African destroyed the younger Klitschko, Wladimir, last year, but hasn't fought since.

The stylish but light-punching Chris Byrd holds the International Boxing Federation's belt, while the World Boxing Association's belongs, for the moment, to John Ruiz. That will change if Roy Jones Jr., who embarrassed Ruiz last year, returns to the heavyweight ranks. The WBA named Ruiz interim champion based on his crashingly dull win over Hasim Rahman, but a rematch with Jones is thankfully unlikely, thanks to the lighter man's preference to campaign at light-heavyweight.

Mesi was already on the heavyweight fast track, thanks to his 28-0 record with 25 knockouts, as well as his burgeoning relationship with HBO, the sport's premier broadcast outlet. Lewis fought only twice in the last 26 months of his reign, and his departure means more title fights, which means more title shots for heavyweight contenders.

Given the scarcity of marketable, or identifiable, contenders beyond the Klitschkos and the barely present Mike Tyson, who has fought just once since Lewis humiliated him in June 2002, it will be a major upset if Mesi doesn't get to fight for one of the major belts by the end of the year.

Of course, that major upset could come courtesy of Vasiliy Jirov, the former cruiserweight titlist who faces Mesi March 13 in Las Vegas. A win more impressive than his come-from-ahead survival against Monte Barrett in December, though, could put Mesi in line for a title shot as early as this summer.

If Lewis sticks to his decision, and there's little reason to believe he won't, the public challenge Mesi issued last month will go unanswered. But Lewis retires having fought every deserving opponent who was willing to face him during the decade he ruled the division.

Lewis first won the WBC title in 1993, after the lone big name missing from his resume, Riddick Bowe, threw the belt in a trash can rather than duke it out with his conqueror at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

That first title win over Tony Tucker epitomized much of Lewis' reign. Dominant, to be sure -- he knocked Tucker down twice and earned edges of six, six and seven points on the three judges' scorecards -- but thoroughly lacking any drama or memorable moments.

There was little suspense in most of Lewis' title fights. He either thoroughly controlled the action with a combination of size, power and skill unmatched in history, or he got lazy and subsequently knocked out.

Lewis suffered such lapses twice, against Oliver McCall in 1994 and Rahman in 2001. He avenged both losses, watching McCall suffer a nervous breakdown in the ring during their rematch and exposing Rahman as the limited, hittable fighter he is.

Those defeats, though, prevent Lewis from being considered among the most elite company. Few of the champions considered truly great heavyweights absorbed one one-punch knockout loss, much less two.

That shouldn't diminish what he did accomplish, though.

He soundly beat Evander Holyfield twice, although some of the worst judging in boxing history turned Lewis' first win into a draw.

His destruction of Tyson stands as his masterpiece, at once a stunning demonstration of Lewis' skills and a thorough demolition of the myth of "Iron Mike."

In all, he won 15 heavyweight title fights, more than anyone but Joe Louis, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali. He loses a few points for quality of opposition, but you can't blame him for who populated the rankings while he was champion.

Remember, several of his challengers now viewed as less than impressive, like Andrew Golota, Michael Grant and Tommy Morrison, were considered champs-in-waiting before meeting Lewis. None lasted five rounds, and none ever won a major fight.

Lewis reigned with class, even if he lacked the charisma or flair to become bigger than boxing, like Tyson, Holyfield and most of the other fighters listed below. He's talked for years about getting out before his brains get scrambled, citing Holyfield's steadily slurring speech and disappearing reflexes as a cautionary tale.

Only Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano retired as heavyweight champion and stayed retired. Ali tried, but returned to absorb the two horrific beatings many point to as the cause of his current health problems.

Lewis, financially secure and with nothing left to prove, doesn't figure to make the same mistake.

While his career may be over, the debate over his place in history is just starting. Here then, in the interest of provoking nasty letters and e-mails, is one boxing writer's ranking of the all-time heavyweights.

1. Muhammad Ali: Consider this -- more than 20 years after his last fight, he's in more commercials than any active athlete. His combination of bravado, showmanship and wit made him the most famous person in the world in the 1970s, and he remains pretty close to the top of that list today. What lands him at No. 1 on this one, though, was a mixture of speed, instinct, toughness and power when needed that's never been matched. If matched with anyone below 10 times with both fighters at their peak, he wins nine. At least.
2. Joe Louis: His amazing total of 25 title defenses would be even larger if he hadn't lost four years to World War II, service to his country which ultimately led to hounding by the IRS. Avenged his only loss during his peak years, a 12-round stoppage by Max Schmeling, with a first-round knockout of the German that carried worldwide ramifications in the months before war broke out in Europe. His other two losses came during an ill-advised comeback forced by his financial woes.
3. Jack Johnson: The first black heavyweight champion might be remembered as the best of any race if he hadn't been hounded out of the country by racially charged accusations. His exile of several years ended in 1915 only after his infamous knockout loss to Jess Willard, when he was counted out while shading his eyes from the sun in Havana, Cuba. Still, Johnson's skills, particularly on defense, and style overwhelmed the plodding brawlers better suited to the bare-knuckle days, ushering in the sport's modern era.
4. Larry Holmes: The Easton Assassin never got much respect, suffering the misfortune of following Ali. Holmes' style matched his personality -- earnest and determined, but without much flair. A savage knockout loss to Tyson when Holmes was five years past his peak and his refusal to retire -- his last official bout was against walking freak show Eric "Butterbean" Esch in 2002, and he fought a three-round exhibition last month at age 54 -- shouldn't besmirch the legacy of the most technically sound heavyweight ever.
5. Sonny Liston: What happened in his two losses to Ali and how he died remain among boxing's great mysteries, but a more fearsome, two-handed knockout artist never climbed into a ring. And that includes you, Mike.
6. Joe Frazier: Ali wouldn't quite be Ali without his three wars against Smokin' Joe. The most consistently aggressive of the great heavies, and possessor of the best left hook.
7. George Foreman: Yes, he beat Frazier twice, a demonstration of how important matchups are in boxing. His two distinct careers as a champion, separated by a full decade of preaching and eating, are unmatched in any sport. Both young George and old George had the power to decapitate any opponent, but were equally capable of losing to vastly lesser foes, like Jimmy Young in 1977 and Tommy Morrison in 1993. It says here, though, that the bald, grinning grill salesman would have beaten the scowling, young destroyer.
8. Lennox Lewis: He beat everyone there was to beat, and finished his career with his best performance (against Tyson) and biggest comeback (against Klitschko). Take away those two enormous upset losses, and he's in the top five.
9. Rocky Marciano: Yes, he was the only heavyweight champ to retire unbeaten, and it's tough to fault 49-0. But all of his biggest wins -- two each against Joe Wolcott and Ezzard Charles and one over Louis -- came against opponents who had seen far better days. In his last fight, he got knocked down by 39-year-old light-heavyweight Archie Moore and sensibly retired before the next generation of heavyweights, led by Liston and Floyd Patterson, had the chance to blemish that record.
10. Ezzard Charles: A great light-heavyweight before moving up, Charles was a pretty good heavy, too. He won nine title fights, including one over an aging Louis, and nearly beat Marciano twice. He lost a close, controversial decision in their first meeting, and split the Rock's nose in the second, an injury that would have forced a stoppage in most fights. His mechanics, defense and warrior's spirit made him a smaller, if equally underrated, version of Holmes.

Niagara Falls Reporter

www.niagarafallsreporter.com

February 10 2004