Lewis: Defeats will make me stronger

Lennox Lewis believes the bitter memories of his two career defeats will spur him to victory in his Hollywood blockbuster of a clash against Vitali Klitschko in Los Angeles tonight.

The 37-year-old champ is determined the Ukrainian will not pull off another freak victory which could spell the end of his historic ring career.

Lewis, the first Briton in over 100 years to be acclaimed the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, suffered the only blemishes on his record with shock upsets at the hands of Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman.

“I think I needed those two defeats,” said Lewis, who avenged both losses.

“I always say to people that you can’t be great unless you have lost and know what it’s like.

“That’s definitely helped catapult my career in a sense because it’s helped me dig down and ask myself the question ‘is this what I want?’.

“You learn more through a defeat. Look at Muhammad Ali, he lost three times but was able to come back and this shows the heart of a true champion.

“This makes me a true champion because I know what it’s like to lose and how you have to dig down to come back.

“And the defeats would have come in bigger fights otherwise. That would have hurt me but to the kind of opponents I lost to, it was kind of a freak mistake.”

There is the hint of a freak-show about his World Boxing Council defence against Klitschko at the Staples Center tonight.

The duo’s combined weight of a gruesome 36st makes it the heaviest heavyweight bout in history and if either hits the floor with a thud it could send shockwaves through the earthquake state.

Lewis is confident it will not be his 18st 4lb frame – the heaviest it has ever been for a title battle – that ends up on the canvas but that of the taller, 6ft 7in, Klitschko who is facing the toughest fight of his career.

Such is the belief, Lewis’ management are already working on a fight against Roy Jones Jnr later in the year which would give him one last £20million-plus pay-day before likely retirement.

“Jones has said he is a heavyweight now, but let him prove it,” said Lewis of the former middleweight champion who is three stone lighter.

“It would be an intriguing fight for the fans because Jones thinks he can beat me. But I am the true heavyweight champion.

“But first I am focusing on Klitschko. It’s taken some adjusting to his style because he is taller than me, but I have always liked fighting the bigger guys.

“Klitschko has bitten off more than he can chew in fighting me because he has not faced as tough competition in his career.

“He will have to pull something out of the ordinary to beat me and I don’t think he can do that.”