Lennox Lewis tipped the scales for his world heavyweight title defense against Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko at a beefy 116kg on Thursday, the heaviest the Briton has ever weighed for a fight.
Weighing seven and a half pounds more than he did when he last climbed into the ring a year ago to take on Mike Tyson, a surprised gasp swept through a modest crowd at the weigh-in conducted in front of the Staples Center.
"Whatever he weighs, he looks good and I'm satisfied," trainer Emanuel Steward told Reuters, shrugging off any suggestion that 37-year-old Lewis (40-2-1, 31 KOs) was not fit or had taken the fight lightly.
"He's been training and training good, he's a big guy and he looks good. He's in great shape and sparring more than he ever has and that's what he weighs, I'm happy about it," he said.
Klitschko (32-1, 31 KOs) also added some weight for today's WBC and IBO bout, tipping the scales at 112.5kg. Promoters said that made it the heaviest heavyweight title fight in history at a combined 228.5kg.
The tall Klitschko, a late replacement for Kirk Johnson after the Canadian was injured in training, has fought at 113kg but was down to 110kg and 111kg for his last two fights.
The most Lewis had previously weighed for a bout was 114.5kg against Hasim Rahman in April 2001, a fight he lost in five rounds as the American picked up the WBC and IBF titles.
Seven months later, Lewis, a trim 112 pounds, hit back to reclaim the titles with a fourth-round knockout of Rahman.
"I think the Hasim Rahman fight put him [Lewis] in the state of mind where he'll never relax going into a fight," said Steward. "I'm not at all worried about his weight.
"He's a big man, a solid man, it's a different type of muscle. I look at a guy's body and Lennox is in very good shape.
"As you get older you become denser, that's a fact. He's in great shape, if he had came in at 250 pounds [113.3kg] I would have been upset," Steward said.
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