By Rick Reeno
With a Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko rematch looming, everyone is wondering as to the status of the title defense against Hasim Rahman in May. Bernd Bönte, Klitschko’s manager, said that the mandatory defense of the WBC belt against Rahman in May is the number one priority for Vitali Klitschko.
The trainer of Lennox Lewis, Emanuel Steward, told the UK publication TimesOnline that he was unaware of any Lennox Lewis return to the ring. On the other hand, he also said that he would support Lewis' return campaign and felt that Lennox should of fought Vitali again.
“This is totally new to me. Two or three years is not a tremendously long time out. I always thought Lennox should have finished with a rematch."
Steward said that he knew Lennox was thinking about a comeback when he saw in at the Klitschko-Williams pay per view bout last year. He said Lennox was sizing Vitali up and was surprised to see Lewis in very good fighting shape.
“At first I thought he’d never come back, but at that fight, I saw him weighing Vitali up. It wasn’t anything he said, but he was analysing him very closely, as if for a reason.”
"Lennox was at 12 pounds over his boxing weight, he was fit. I was surprised. That’s the sort of weight he normally has to lose when he starts training camp.”
The management company that Lewis is involved with is also claiming that a Lewis return is not 100% at this point of time. Jerome Anderson, the chief executive of SEM claimed that the money being offered was not enough and that Lewis made more against Mike Tyson a few years back.
“It’s pure speculation, it’s not enough money"
Recent talk has the Lewis-Klitschko rematch happening in November.
