Rahman stuns Lewis with fifth-round knockout

Little-known American Hasim Rahman caused one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when he knocked out Lennox Lewis in the fifth round of their world heavyweight title clash in South Africa on Sunday.

Rahman, 28, took the WBC, IBF and IBO crowns from the 35-year-old British champion with a devastating right hook that flattened Lewis.

"You know that was a lucky punch," Lewis said afterwards.

"Lennox didn't do anything wrong. In boxing it takes just one punch," said the former champion's trainer Emmanuel Steward.

The shock result ranks alongside Mike Tyson's upset defeat at the hands of Buster Douglas in Tokyo in 1990.

Lewis appeared to be in control of the bout in the early rounds, keeping Rahman at bay with his strong jab and right uppercuts.

With the fight taking place at altitude, Lewis did appear to be struggling for breath but still remained in control and looked poised to pick off Rahman as the bout entered the middle rounds.

HUGE RIGHT
In the fifth round, though, Lewis dropped his hands for a moment and Rahman caught him flush on the jaw with a huge right.

Lewis attempted to struggle to his feet, but was unable to beat the count.

Rahman's manager Stan Hoffman said he was not surprised by the outcome.

"I have said several times over the past few weeks that we would have a knockout victory by the sixth round...and I was right," he said.

"We wanted to draw him in and then hit him with a big right, once he (Lewis) felt over-confident."

Hoffman said that although there was a re-match clause in the fight contract, they might first consider what would be a lucrative bout against Tyson.

"All along, Tyson has said 'Lennox Lewis, Lennox Lewis', so does he want to fight us now?"

Rahman said that though he was prepared to fight any heavyweight, he would be happy to give Lewis a rematch.

"He gave me the opportunity and it is only fair to give him one in return," he said.

Rahman's career record improved to 35 wins and two defeats, while Lewis fell to 37-2-1.

There were concerns ahead of the fight that Lewis had arrived too late to acclimatise to Johannesburg's altitude of 5,600 feet above sea level.

Although he arrived two weeks ago while Rahman travelled to Africa four weeks before the fight, Lewis said afterwards that it had not been a factor.

"I definitely was ready, I had no altitude problem," he said, adding that he would "be back".