THEY HAVE NOW TIPPED THE SCALE – LEWIS & TYSON OFFICIAL WEIGH-IN LIVE FROM MEMPHIS
By Ron Brashear
Inside Boxing Writer
Photos: Ron Brashear/INSIDE BOXING
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (INSIDE BOXING 6/6/2002) – The highly anticipated official weigh-in
has now taken place and we are within 48 hours of the Heavyweight Championship
bout between Lennox Lewis (38-2-1, 29Kos) and “Iron” Mike Tyson (49-3-0, 43
KOs) for the WBC & IBF versions of the Heavyweight crown
The Mayor of Memphis, The Honorable Willie Herenton, opened the weigh-in festivities by welcoming everyone to the City of Memphis and stressed how delighted he is to have such as sport event held in Memphis. When he was asked what is the important part of hosting this championship fight? He replied, “Security is most importance to use. Everyone’s safe is key. You will see a security plan that is along the line of the security plan that was in place in Salt Lake City, Utah for the Olympics.”
Lennox Lewis, at 6’5”, weighed in today at 249 ¼ lbs at approximately
12:10 PM local time and definitely appears to have prepared himself properly for
this bout. The crowd, of approximately 100+ media representatives seemed very
subdued and everyone actually remained in their seats, as recommended, so the
photographers were able to capture a clear view of the weigh-in.
Mike Tyson, at 5’11” ½, weighed in at approximately 3:25 PM local time
and tipped the scale at 234 ½ lbs. His body
also appears to illustrate that he
too, has trained hard and is prepared for this fight. The Tyson weigh-in drew a
larger crowd and the level of excitement was magnified more than what was
experienced during the Lewis weigh-in. His entrance was more dramatic as well by
having his convoy of SUVs pull inside of the convention center while being
escorted by a motorcade of security personnel, including Memphis uniformed
patrol.
Note * Tyson’s camp, namely Ronnie Shields voiced a concern that the scales gave a readout of about 5lbs heavier than what Mike actually weighs. This concern was also echoed and observed by ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr, as he also weighed himself afterwards and felt the scale was registering about 5 lbs more as well for his weight. What does this mean? Hopefully nothing. What is for certain, there should not be any excuses for the loser in the way of not being in shape, both fighters are fit, and ready to do battle.
So fight fans, there you have it. Whether you are in Memphis to attend, or in the comfort of your home, or favorite sports bar, this fight has all the making of one of he premier heavyweight showdowns in a long time.
By the way, I happened to bump into some of my fellow Atlantans while
attending this weigh-in. Pictured, from left to right are, myself, former Atlanta
Mayor- Bill Campbell, and CNN Sports Illustrated Anchor – Larry Smith.
You have just gone insideBoxing.com
Ron Brashear can be contacted @ brashear@insideboxing.com