Little hope for Lewis

It should be an easy night for Audley

By Sanjeev Shetty BBC Sport Online

If you are a boxing fan and the name Wade Lewis seems unfamiliar, do not be alarmed.

The following quote comes from Ron Borges, one of America's most respected boxing writers.

"Audley Harrison is stepping into the ring with an American heavyweight on 5 October. His name is Wade Lewis.

"If you have heard of him and are not related to him you are spending too much time on boxing."

Harrison lines up American opposition

If that sounds unnecessarily harsh, then Mr Lewis' in-ring exploits do not suggest he is any deadlier than the men who have faced Harrison so far.

His career record stands at 12 wins, three defeats with 11 of his wins coming by knockout.

However, one of his defeats was a crushing first round knockout at the hands of Dominick Guinn, who, at 225 lbs, and by modern standards, is not a big heavyweight.

His other two defeats have come against the same man - Raphael Garcia, a fellow journeyman heavyweight.

Of the men that Lewis has defeated, it would be difficult to mention anyone that the British public might have heard of and most of his victories have come against fighters with more losses than wins.

When he faces Harrison in Liverpool on Saturday, his only real advantages will be experience, having fought as a professional since February 2000 and activity, having knocked out Lewis Gilbert in September.

Harrison has not fought since July and has only had six fights in a career which began in May 2001.

He has undoubted punching power and is a dangerous opponent

Harrison's manager
Colin McMillan

A man of some notable athletic ability, the 32-year-old Lewis excelled at linebacker for the Memphis State University football team in his college days.

And he is not short of favourable omens.

He hails from the state of Alabama, the same birthplace of four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, while he shares his nickname 'Rock' with former champion Hasim Rahman.

And, like current world heavyweight champion and namesake Lennox, he likes nothing better than to unwind over a nice game of... chess.

(Boxing used to be a man's game - heavyweight legend of the 1920s Jack Dempsey allegedly bathed his face in urine to make his skin tougher - now men like Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko want to play chess before they get into the ring!)

But against Harrison, he will be conceding around 20lbs of weight, three inches in height and an immeasurable amount of skill.

So it seems certain that, after Saturday, Lewis will return to his day job - which revolves around wholesale clothing - having enjoyed slightly less than his 15 minutes of fame.