Thanks: 
Likes: 
Dislikes: 
Sixhead Lewis quits fight, because of bowels.
Quitting was the lesser of two evils - 'Six Head' Lewis
By Steve Ninvalle
Tuesday, April 25th 2006
The question is why would a boxer who is easily winning a fight suddenly quit to hand victory to his bruised opponent? The answer is that he wants to go to the toilet.
`Deadly' Denny Dalton may owe the retaining of his national junior middleweight to a milk shake, or so challenger Andrew `Six Head' Lewis claims.
In an exclusive post-fight interview with Stabroek Sport, Lewis claimed that his quitting the fight was due mainly to a stomach problem which forced him to visit the toilet twice, moments before the contest.
He also called for a rematch with Dalton. The problem, he said, started after he drank a milk shake Saturday afternoon.
Lewis was giving Dalton, whom he challenged for the junior middleweight title at the National Park early Sunday morning, a lesson in boxing and was ahead on all three judges' cards when he quitted with the seventh round 37 seconds old.
According to Lewis his stomach started to gripe after he drank a home-made milk shake on the afternoon of the fight. He said that the blend of milk, banana and nuts was recommended by a member of his camp.
"It caused my belly to go off. Three times while I was at home here and twice when I got into the National Park," said Lewis. "It was as bad as that. If I had stayed longer in the ring I would have messed my skin. I just wanted to get out and go to the toilet."
The former WBA welterweight champion said that he informed trainer Maurice `Bizzy' Boyce about the problem once they got to the National Park.
When contacted Boyce acknowledged that he was appraised of Lewis' condition. "He told me that he had some stomach gripes and visited the toilet in the National Park twice but I never knew that it was so severe," Boyce said.
The trainer added that at no time during the fight had Lewis communicated his discomfort. "He never communicated that to me during the fight. He also never told me that he was hurt," Boyce added.
"I preferred to lose the fight than mess up myself in front of all those people. Everyone saw that I was beating the hell out of Dalton. I was trying to hold in this stuff but in the seventh round I couldn't no more so I decided to quit. I can live with what I did," the former world champion declared.
"I was focused and well prepared for the fight. I was beating him at will. He knows it too. But then this thing came on. I was sill beating him but had to concentrate or else I would have messed myself."
Lewis revealed that he got gripes in the fourth round and was going to chuck but was urged on by Boyce. "I'm disappointed and I guess that my fans are disappointed also but unless you were in my situation you wouldn't know what I went through."
The bizarre stoppage to the fight resulted in boos from the crowd, shouts of sell out, and a call from promoter Odinga Lumumba for the Guyana Boxing Board of Control to withhold Lewis' purse pending an inquiry.
However, Lewis scoffed at suggestions that he had sold the fight. "Me Andrew Lewis sell a fight? They got to be joking. I am Guyana's first world champion and I will always hold my head up high," Lewis said.
"I would fight Dalton again if he wants to just to prove that I'm much better than him. I can fight him right now, he will be beat up real bad."
 |
|
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks