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 Thursday, April 20
Lewis faces Grant with size a factor
 
 ESPN.com

NEW YORK -- It's one of those fights that boxing fans look forward to for years but never actually get. But in this case, fans are getting it. Lennox Lewis and Michael Grant aren't just two of the top heavyweights in the world today, they're also two of the biggest. And that is an interesting sidelight to their championship fight at Madison Square Garden on April 29.

At a combined 13 feet tall and 500 pounds, this is the biggest heavyweight championship fight in history, and the Sweet Science has a long history. Lewis, who has had a checkered career but only lost officially one time, takes on Grant, a highly touted contender from the Philadelphia suburbs who is coming off his defining fight, a late KO of Andrew Golota.

 Lennox Lewis
 Lennox Lewis was too big and quick for Evander Holyfield.

Lewis got to this point with two fights last year against Evander Holyfield. In the first one, Lewis appeared to have his way with Holyfield and win a lopsided decision (also at Madison Square Garden). Of course, the judges didn't see it that way. However, on Nov. 13, Lewis (35-1-1, 27 KO's) finally heard the words he had been waiting for since he knocked out Riddick Bowe to win the gold medal at the 1988 Olympic games. In a less-than-stellar rematch with Holyfield, Lewis was declared the winner by unanimous decision and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. And with that, Lewis became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1992, and for the first time in over a century, a British fighter had won the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Lewis did connect with Holyfield throughout the rematch with crippling right uppercuts and thunderous overhand rights. Midway through the ninth round, Lewis landed a vicious right uppercut that buckled Holyfield's knees and sent him back to his corner at round's end on unsteady legs. Unable to match Lewis punch-for-punch, Holyfield battled in spurts, but in the end, Lewis' jab and big uppercuts gave him the undisputed title, though there was some dispute afterward about the decision. That's why Lewis taking on such a tough foe in his first fight since is rather odd.

It's hard to deny, however, that Lewis is the world's top heavyweight, more because there are no worthy challengers for the throne. That's where Grant comes in.

At 6-7, 250, Grant (31-0, 22 KOs) is a towering physical specimen, even bigger than Lewis. Grant is regarded as the best young heavyweight in the world and is recognized by most boxing insiders as the future of the heavyweight division. Grant has been plowing through the heavyweight division since his pro debut in 1994, and has knocked out six of his last seven opponents, including his last fight, which was a 10th-round TKO of Andrew Golota on Nov. 20 in Atlantic City. What Grant showed more than anything vs. Golota was heart. Knocked down for the first two times in his career in the first round, Grant fought back and eventually wore Golota down.

He'll be trying to do the same thing on April 29.


 



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Audio chat with Lennox Lewis

Lennox Lewis and Michael Grant photo gallery

Lewis/Grant bios