Lewis turns over Page
February 18, 2001 – Las Vegas: By Kurt Emhoff: Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis became the second Guyanese-born fighter to ever win a world title (Dennis Andries was the first) by stopping recently stripped James Page at 1:13 of the seventh round for the vacant WBA welterweight crown at the MGM Grand.
Lewis dominated the fight from the opening bell - landing seemingly at will with right hooks and straight left hands. Lewis had Page wobbly and winging wild shots from the first minute forward.
The southpaw Lewis even turned righty and nailed Page with lead rights and straight lefts. Page’s legs didn’t seem to be under him the entire round. According to HBO’s punchstat numbers, Lewis outlanded Page by a whopping 42 to 15 margin in this round. Lewis – 10-9.
Round two was more of the same as Lewis seemed too quick for the lumbering Page. Lewis continued to land straight lefts at will. Lewis then tried the right uppercut and it too landed. Lewis then loaded up another right uppercut and crashed it home, he followed this with a quick push and down went Page.
It was arguably a slip/pushdown, but referee Kenny Bayless ruled it a knockdown. Page’s mouthpiece was fortuitously knocked out by Lewis’ uppercut and Bayless chose to allow Page’s corner to reinsert it – thus giving Page valuable time to recover. Lewis continued to nail Page on the ropes but Page survived. It was another huge round for Lewis as he outlanded Page 43 to 8. Lewis – 10-8.
Lewis continued his dominance in round three, again landing right uppercuts at will. Page started moving back and giving ground to try and get himself together. Page did manage to come back late in the round with a left hook and lead right. It was a better round for Page as Lewis seemed to tire slightly. Still Lewis outlanded him by a 36 to 17 margin. Lewis – 10-9.
Round four saw Lewis jabbing and boxing on the outside. He also continued his constant switching back and forth between the right and left-handed stances. He was also doubling and tripling his jab to great effect. Page landed a few right hands but, again, was clearly outworked by Lewis. Lewis 10-9.
In round five, Lewis continued nailing Page with flush shots –beginning the round with a beautiful lead left, right hook, straight left combo. However, Page soon landed his best shot of the fight – a big left hook - that clearly shook Lewis. But Lewis recovered quickly by bobbing and weaving under Page’s ponderous, wide follow-up shots and was soon back to boxing Page’s ears off. Near the end of the round, Lewis backed Page to the ropes and landed a hard right hook, right uppercut combo. Lewis – 10-9.
In round six, Lewis continued the boxing lesson – throwing triple jabs and moving away from Page’s bombs with ease. Lewis was hitting Page at will and this was easily Lewis’ round. Lewis – 10-9.
In round seven, the end mercifully came. Lewis expertly jabbed and then quickly turned the jab into a right hook that landed square on Page’s left temple. Page had a delayed reaction but he pitched forward on to his face. Page beat the count and wanted to continue but Bayless stopped it at 1:13 of round seven.
The new WBA champion now has a sterling record of 20-0-1 (19). The ex-champ Page falls to 25-4 (19).
The final punchstat numbers were indicative of the one-sided nature of the bout as Lewis landed 227 of 559 punches for a solid 41% connect rate. Page landed only 75 of 318 punches for a 24% connect rate. The 19 months of inactivity, plus the hard, precision punching of his foe, were too much for Page to overcome.
Afterwards, Lewis was ready to take on all comers. “Bring on Shane Mosley. Bring on Oscar De La Hoya,” exclaimed the 30 year-old Lewis. Being only the second Guyanese-born fighter to win a title (Dennis Andries was first, contrary to what the HBO commentators would have you believe), Lewis has a lot to be excited about. Off of this near perfect performance, he is without question a formidable opponent for anyone at 147lbs.  Follow the goings-on in Guyana  If you do not see the 'Guyana: Land of Six Peoples' drop-down menu on the left then please click here to enter through the front door which will give you additional options and information.
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