Rawling: Lewis was not right

BBC Sport's John Rawling commentated from ringside as Lennox Lewis was sensationally knocked out by Hasim Rahman in Carnival City, South Africa.

Here he gives his verdict on why Lewis was separated from his senses and titles by a single right hand punch.

Lennox Lewis lost his title through being poorly prepared and underestimating his opponent.

For a man going into a world title fight it was shocking to see his mouth hanging open and showing serious signs of fatigue in the second round.

He gave the impression that he thought he could take him out with one big shot instead of working for the opening.

With Lewis' defeat goes his claim to be one of the greats and also the chance to fight Mike Tyson

  John Rawling

To be fair, it was a great punch that put Lewis down.

But it was all about Rahman's preparations which were obviously meticulous.

He and his team had worked out a plan and he fought small.

By that I mean he tried to fight out of a crouch and it transpired that Lewis was punching down and not able to get full purchase on his punches.

After Lewis had taken the first two rounds, Rahman definitely won the fourth but in the fifth he got a cut on his eye.

For whatever reason, after absorbing a big right hand, Lewis dropped his gloves and made some sort of silly grin as Rahman chased him across the ring with a series of jabs.

And the grin was wiped off his face with one of the best rights you will ever see.

With Lewis' defeat goes his claim to be one of the greats and also the chance to fight Mike Tyson.

Tyson's manager Shelly Finkel was on the phone to Rahman's promoter Cedric Kushner minutes after the fight

  John Rawling

As early as the second round - I knew he was not right but I still thought he would win.

He was puffing and panting like a horse on his way to the knacker's yard.

The defeat is also a bitter blow for trainer Emanuel Steward.

The owner of the renowned Kronk Gym told me he thought he was supposed to be a man who trains champions and now he found himself training a couple of guys for rematches.

Lewis said after that he did not feel tired. If he really believes he got himself into the right shape then he is deluding himself as badly as Evander Holyfield did after his loss to John Ruiz.

Lewis has got a rematch clause, but I suspect that Rahman would want to make a voluntary defence first, which could be a rematch with David Tua, who took his undefeated record, or even a fight against Tyson.

Tyson's manager Shelly Finkel was on the phone to Rahman's promoter Cedric Kushner minutes after the fight.

The fight is a real possibility given that at this stage Rahman is not contracted to a major television network.

If he is smart he should maximise his earning potential and fight Tyson.

I think a Rahman-Tyson fight is bigger than a Rahman-Lewis bout.

Simply put, Lewis has lost a lot of credibility because of this defeat.