Sixhead can only rebound outside 147lbs
Orin Davidson's Eye on Sport
Stabroek News
May 5, 2002
Boxing is different to other sports in more ways than one.
The benefits can be enormous and the pitfalls devastating.
The very best earn hundreds of millions of dollars while the most unfortunate have lost their lives in the ring.
Losses can be more that just disappointing, they could be disastrous and could commence the end of careers.
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's first defeat triggered a series of disasters which he is still struggling to overcome.
He was imprisoned, his association with celebrated promoter Don King had an acrimonious ending in a court room, he committed dastardly acts in the ring and in other cases had numerous other scrapes with the law.
There are some fighters though, who have rebounded from such adversity with resounding success.
Muhammed Ali who likes to be known as "The Greatest," was stripped of his heavyweight title for three years, suffered a loss to Joe Frazier, but was good enough to return and become the first man to win the crown three times.
Sugar Ray Leonard shook off a demoralising defeat to Roberto Duran and rebounded to put away Thomas Hearns in arguably the best welterweight contest ever.
In similar manner Guyana's first ever world champion Andrew `Sixhead' Lewis would like to rebound after relinquishing his World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title.
Since his defeat by Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga, Lewis has to endure the distress of letting down a nation which was expecting a much longer reign than the one year he held the belt.
The fact that he lost to an unknown fighter and not to the more celebrated names in the welterweight division like Shane Moseley or Vernon Forest, has made Lewis' defeat a more bitter pill to swallow.
Disappointment has led to anger and since March 30 there have been widespread calls for Lewis to dispense with his management team.
Ex Guyana stalwarts in the sport including Reginald Ford have in no uncertain terms called for `Sixhead' to axe the team which brought him the glory he lost in a dramatic flurry of blows on that fateful night in Pennsylvania.
Influential promoter Don King's public castigation of the fighter and his handlers added fuel to the fire.
Coming from one of the best known figures in the sport other than the pugilists themselves, the Nelson Fernandez led management/trainer team has subsequently become almost everybody's scapegoat.
The upshot has resulted in Lewis stating he is seriously thinking of looking for new trainers.
But Lewis' problem is more than one that can be blamed solely on his trainers.
And any objective minded observer would agree that he was a far cry from the fighter who disposed of James Pages to win the title last year February.
His punches lacked authority and he seemed less capable of absorbing punishment.
In short, it seemed Sixhead's ability declined markedly from the time he won the title instead of him getting better as most boxing lay persons would analyse it.
And it is in such situations the fingers would point straight away at the trainers.
But boxing evaluations are more scientific than many fans would understand.
Well-known promoter/trainer Keith Bazilio made an interesting observation by attributing Lewis' demise to the weight problems he experienced before Mayorga.
Bazilio said that weight problems can lead to rhythm loss, restricted movement and lack of concentration among other drawbacks, which were painfully obvious when Sixhead took the ring for that important title defence.
Although Fernandez has dismissed the weight problem theory, the boxer has since admitted that it was a factor in his preparations for the fight.
The fact that he was forced to visit the scale twice before the Mayorga showdown enhances Lewis' admission.
And even though he has indicated a reluctance to vacate the welterweight division, the indications are that Sixhead would be well advised to think otherwise and move up to a heavier division.
Weight problems among fighters are common for those outside of the heavyweight category. In recent times the celebrated Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya have had to move out of the welterweight ranks because they could not make 147 pounds. In the past other greats like Leonard and Hearns did likewise for the same reason.
And Lewis at 31 years of age would not be any different.
His problem right now is not so much one of deficient trainers but of weight and as such he has no alternative but to continue his career outside of the 147-pound division.