Round by Round

The Associated Press’ round-by-round description of Saturday night’s heavyweight bout between Lennox Lewis, the WBC and IBF champion, and Michael Grant:

ROUND 1

* They came out and missed four punches. Grant took a left jab from Lewis. Grant landed a 1-2 punch after 15 seconds. Grant missed two wild punches. And then the two clinched. Grant got in a good jab as the fight approached the minute mark. Then the action slowed as both men clinched. Grant landed a glancing right to the head at mid-round. Lewis landed a right to the body and a right to the head. Grant went down and got up at six and was hurt. There was another right by Lewis to the head. Then he landed three more punches. Grant went into a corner and the referee began a count, getting to eight. Lewis landed a hook and a right. They clinched. Grant backed away and Lewis landed a hard right uppercut. And they backed away. Grant went down again and was up at seven as the bell rang.

The AP calls the round to Lewis.

ROUND 2

* Lewis came out attacking then the two clinched. Grant tried to throw a left to the body and Lewis backed away. Grant still appeared hurt. Then there was another left. Grant landed a left to the head at 30 seconds into the round. Another clinch. Lewis landed a right to the body and two to the head. Both men missed wild punches. Grant was trying to stay out of Lewis’ range. Lewis was ineffective during the first 1:15 of the round. Lewis was looking for the big punch. Lewis landed a stiff jab just past the midpoint and they clinched again. Lewis landed another hard jab and a right uppercut that had Grant holding on. Lewis landed five straight uppercuts before Grant tied him up. Lewis landed two hard rights to the head after a Grant miss. Lewis dropped Grant flat on his back with about 20 seconds left. He could not answer the count.