An outsider who did it in his own way

“What do I want my legacy to be ? Good,” said Lewis, sitting on the ring apron in Madison Square Garden to talk to reporters on Monday after a brief workout during which the gentle lilt of several Bob Marley songs played in the background.

“I want it to be that this is a man, basically an outsider, who did it his way. A man who stayed away from bad promoters, bad managers.”

Nothing immodest about that — except the tinge of third person pretension he often slips into when talking about himself.

The World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight champion is probably accurate in his assessment of how he will be remembered after he retires, regardless of the outcome of his fight this Saturday against the undefeated Michael Grant.

That he likely won’t be considered one of boxing’s greats is due to the truth of that old boxing adage that styles make fights and also due to his naturally conservative — some people say timid — approach to his work.

But then again an argument can be made that boxing is supposed to be “the manly art of self defence” and that the object is to hit and not be hit, so Lewis has fulfilled all of the rules of the sport. And made millions of dollars in the process.

Who can argue with that? His trainer Emanuel Steward, for one.

“I’m an aggressive type of trainer,” Steward said in a recent tele-conference call, “I like the big punch. Lennox is conservative, careful.”

Ever since Steward took over as trainer after Lewis lost his WBC title to Oliver McCall in 1994, the well-respected trainer has been prodding his fighter to use his awesome physical talents to become a devastating force in the ring.

Instead, Lewis has done just enough to win, except for a few fights when he has been forced into slugging it out.

The two bouts with Evander Holyfield are prime examples of the Briton’s caution in the ring. The first fight in March, 1999, in Madison Square Garden was judged a draw, bringing a huge outcry from fans and boxing insiders who thought Lewis won easily.

By most objective standards he did win that fight, but it seemed that his reluctance to expose himself to possible danger kept him from taking advantage of several opportunities to put Holyfield away.

Lewis won the second fight eight months later in Las Vegas on a unanimous decision. But again he was reluctant to press the attack, leaving many fans disappointed, Steward included.

But Steward says he has forgiven Lewis for his caution against Holyfield, explaining that the styles of the two men would never lend themselves to great fights against each other.

“I’ve forgiven him for the fight with Holyfield. I realise that Evander didn’t do anything much,” Steward said on Monday.

Steward says he told Lewis: “Let’s start a dominating era. Even if you don’t have a good opponent you can dominate and receive recognition from the general public” — recognition Steward says his fighter lacks.

These days the 34-year-old Lewis says he only wants to face fighters of his own era.

The last big fight he wants is with Mike Tyson, “But I don’t think he wants to fight me. I don’t even really want to box the young guys.

“The most lucrative fight is Tyson but he’s busy being a movie star,” Lewis said on Monday, referring to Tyson’s recent role in a movie.

“The other fighters are just waiting for one big fight,” he said.

Steward says he planted the idea in Lewis’ mind that he take a stand for the good of boxing, give up championship belts and enter the ring as the “people’s champion” on Saturday.

“Lewis has a unique opportunity to do so because he is generally recognised as the undisputed champion, especially in light of the current controversies,” said Steward, referring to the bribery trial of IBF president Bob Lee and the court order rejecting the WBA sanctioning of Lewis-Grant.

Lewis’ US lawyer, Milt Chwasky, on Monday said that Lewis is sending back the belt as ordered this week. Lewis then will be defending the WBC and IBF belts. The WBA title will be vacant. Holyfield and John Ruiz will fight for that belt in June.

The 35-1-1 Lewis, though, said that he is not interested in giving up his belts to make a statement for the sport.

“I haven’t really thought about it that much. I don’t need the belts,” said Lewis. “But because I’ve worked so hard to get them, for me to give them up like that, it’s just a funny feeling I have.”

Yet again, Steward is insisting that this time, against the 27-year-old Grant (31-0) on Saturday, Lewis will finally show his talents and win impressively.

“I no longer can brag about this great talent if it doesn’t come out in this fight,” Steward says.

Reluctantly, Lewis agrees with Steward that Saturday’s scheduled 12-rounder has all the ingredients for him to show his best.

Grant is young, strong and, to Lewis’ favour, say Steward and Lewis, he is tall — 6’7” (2.4 m) To Lewis’ 6’5” (2.4 m). Both men weight about 250 pounds (113 kg). The idea is that Lewis will not have to punch down, as he usually must against opponents.

“I just want to go out and prove I’m the best fighter on the planet,” he said, borrowing a phrase from Tyson.

“I feel no excuses. This is the fight.”