Will it be repeat or redemption when Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis duke it out for the second time? (Actually the third time, but their ESPN Zone scuffle wasn't sanctioned.) You get the feeling that besides the heavyweight title, the entire legacy of Lewis is on the line. Forget the fact that Lewis is a two-time heavyweight champion, who for all intents and purposes defeated Evander Holyfield twice to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, was avoided throughout the better part of the '90s by Riddick Bowe and was an Olympic gold medalist to boot.

If he doesn't regain his crown this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas he will forever be the man known as being knocked out by the likes of Oliver McCall and Rahman.

As usual Lewis didn't have too many interesting things to say about his return bout with Rahman, but his trainer Emanuel Steward has more than held his own in going word-for-word against Rahman, who has been successful in getting under the skin of the usually placid Lewis.

Steward admits that his fighter's reputation and place in history is on the line in this one fight. Over a decade of accomplishments will go right down the drain if he can't avenge his April loss.

It's a loss that Steward blames on his fighter's complacency and lack of respect for Rahman.

"It's nothing that complicated," stated Steward. "Rahman was such a big step below the caliber of what Lennox has been fighting the last few years. And Lennox did train good, but he's only normal, his focus and intensity weren't there and we ended up losing the fight because of that."

Both Lewis and Steward had been sharply criticized for their preparation for Rahman in the first matchup. Lewis would participate in the filming of 'Ocean's Eleven' and Steward, himself would 'go Hollywood' as he was teaching actor Wesley Snipes the nuances of the sport during that time. On top of that, they would arrive in the high altitude of Johannesburg only a few weeks before the bout. But Steward insists, all this only played a minor role in their loss.

"We would have liked to have arrived sooner," admitted Steward. "That may have been a factor but I think the biggest factor was that it was very difficult to get up for the fight and be as sharp and as intense and then Rahman just landed one single punch. It wasn't like Lennox was beaten all the way through. In fact, if Rahman wants to see the good part of the fight, he'll probably just watch the last thirty seconds, and that's about it, we could watch the whole fight."

Regardless, it was Lewis who ended the fight with his back on the canvas. Steward believes that on this night, the stars were aligned for Rahman to capture the heavyweight title.

"Lennox bounced off of the ropes when he was playing around," said Steward, narrating the events leading up to Rahman's booming right hand. "Normally, we have a little more give, but those ropes, they had changed, that was a wrestling ring which meant that you had real hard ropes to spring off of. As he bounced off he realized he was losing his balance, his body was all twisted up, he tried to get his hands up because Rahman was running in at the exact same time, he was coming off in a bad position and he got hit between the gloves and his legs were all tangled up between Rahman's legs.

"So even if he wouldn't have been hit, he would've still went down and the referee would have had to wipe the gloves off. So everything happened just perfect and at the right time. It was a helluva good punch, he was coming off the ropes off-balance and he got hit."

Of course, some would say he just 'lost his balance' once Rahman gave Lewis a 'chin check' that he failed miserably. Steward, in a national conference call with the media, would insinuate that before Rahman's KO punch, Rahman was on the verge of quitting because of his cut eye.

"It's a lie," answered Rahman of those allegations. "I told Emanuel that with the blood coming in my eye that I didn't know how long the fight would go on. I was looking to fight a round or two. Lennox said the fight was going to go 12, so I was looking to stop the fight in the next round or two."

Rahman compared his situation to the one James Toney faced against Tim Littles in 1994. Given one round to fight on with a bad cut over his eye, he would stop Littles in brutal fashion. Rahman believes that Steward's claims of his wanting out is more of a mind game he's playing with his own fighter.

"That's just a ploy they use to motivate Lennox, among other things," stated Rahman.

Steward feels that Lewis is much better prepared for the second time out, mentally and physically, training in his familiar surroundings of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. But 'the Rock' believes that he himself will be better the second time around. Rahman has set up camp in Big Bear, California, the small ski resort town made famous by the likes of Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas. In Big Bear, the altitude is high and the distractions are few.

"Definitely," answered Rahman, when asked if this training camp was superior to the ones he had for his previous bouts. "I'm using the same guys as I used the first time (for sparring). They prepared me well and I could cross-reference where I was and what I was able to do in the first fight as opposed to this fight. I just feel I am getting better with the facility and everything I have available to me. The benefit in training this time is that I don't have to fight in altitude, so I think that's also an asset."

Rahman doesn't seem too bothered by the talk that he won the title with one lucky punch. He gets another chance to test the shaky whiskers of Lewis and if he succeeds once again, it becomes a very lucrative trend. But he does bristle at the comparisons to Buster Douglas the patron saint of all 'one-hit wonders'.

"It's my responsibility to dismiss this whole Buster Douglas thing. Douglas lost his title during training, which he wasn't doing. From the win, you'll see a big difference in the way I train and the way I'm presented and the way he was."

So expect to see a peak Rahman, emboldened by the confidence and swagger of knocking out Lewis in April and motivated by the doubters of his history altering victory. So we can expect to see the best Lewis right? Uhh, not exactly, in fact his trainer isn't so sure which Lewis will show up.

"Lennox is very unpredictable for me even," admits Steward. "Some fights he'll stand there and be quiet and jump on a guy like Golota, then there was Grant. I don't know exactly what's going to happen but he's prepared himself for all styles. He's worked on three different styles of fighting and I think you're going to see a strong dominant left jab and I think he'll knock him out in the late rounds."

PREDICTION TIME

Whew, a tough fight if there ever was one. Do you go for the guy who has the better lineage and is more accomplished throughout his career-which would be Lewis. Or the guy, who knocked out his opponent in the previous fight, which would be Rahman.

Styles make fights, and regardless of what Steward says, Rahman's underrated jab and right hand will always make for difficult fights for his man. In their first encounter, Rahman was able to neutralize Lewis' vaunted spear with his own jab, which in turn negated Lewis' ability to set up his right hand.

Conventional wisdom says that if Lewis is going to avenge his loss that he will box cautiously on the outside and settle for a 12-round decision. But it says here that Lewis would be better off coming in hard off a stiff jab and backing up Rahman. Which does two things: one, it allows Lewis to be on the offensive and secondly, takes away the ability of Rahman to land the same type of right hand that got him knocked out in South Africa.

For Rahman, his confidence may be his biggest weapon coming in. If he can get inside Lewis' reach early on and steadily keep coming forward, the fight will be his to win or lose.

So who's my pick? I'll take Lewis but remember, I'm on a losing streak now.

FINAL FLURRIES

I think my man Harold Lederman needs to brush up on the definition of 'effective aggression'. The only thing the game Jesus Chavez was effective in doing against Floyd Mayweather was taking well-placed shots to the head from 'the Pretty Boy'... If he was that 'effective' in his aggression, he would've come out for the 10th round and beyond... Nice to see that America Presents didn't match up Hector Camacho Jr. too tough in his return bout. Wouldn't want to see his heart tested too much after his bow out against Jesse James Leija.