| Related Links: | Articles on 'Sixhead' |
| Letters Menu | Archival Menu |
For the first time in an unblemished career Andrew `Sixhead' Lewis was forced to revisit the scales in order to make the 147-pound welterweight limit for his world boxing title defence last night.
In the presidential room of the Lincoln Plaza on Friday afternoon, The WBA champion first tipped the scale at 147 pounds and two ounces.
Lewis immediately stripped, butt naked, to the obvious approval of the women folk on hand, but was still overweight by a fraction. It took 10 minutes, a chance to urinate, spit and maybe a bath for the champion to come down to the required weight.
"It had to do with the amount of people on stage. Fifteen minutes before that I weighed `Six' and he was 146 and seven eighths of a pound. All we did was go back up stairs and changed and I was with `Six' eversince after that. So it must have been the amount of persons on the stage that caused the scale to react in that manner," Lewis manager Nelson Fernandez stated.
Andrew `Sixhead' Lewis confident rips his muscles at the weigh-in on Friday. (Photo by Kashif Mohammed)
Lewis told Stabroek Sport that he after the first attempt at the scale, he spat and urinated and came back to record 147 pounds. Challenger Ricardo Mayorga came recorded a weight of 145 and three quarter pounds on his first try and was so confident of making the weight that he held an apple while on the scale.
Sporting a chiseled physique, Lewis confirmed that it was the first time that he had come in overweight but brushed aside talk that he was having problems making the welterweight limit.
"I'm in great shape and I expect to win this fight convincingly. I'm representing 800,000 people you know, "All I had to do was pee and spit and I was able to make the weight," the champion said.
A cocky Ricardo Mayorga eats an apple on the scale. (Kashif Mohammed photo)
Head trainer Angel De Jesus assured that there was nothing to worry about. "Andrew has been eating well all week. Technically he made 147 but they wanted the needle to be right in the middle. He just had to take a leak and it was done," the head trainer said Lewis only gained five pounds by yesterday morning when the two fighters were required to revisit the scales while Mayorga gained nine pounds. Trainer in the Lewis camp Edgar `Butch' Sanchez claimed that Mayorga had intentionally starved himself in order to make the weight.
"He was a lot bigger three days ago than he is now. Every time we went to the cafeteria to eat he was there but not eating. That would be to his detriment since he would have no energy," Sanchez said.
De Jesus agreed. "I think that Mayorga is starved. We have not seen him eat since we have been here but even if he did eat and was in the best shape of his life `Six' would still beat him."