Yet Lewis agreed to face Klitschko after Johnson sustained a partially torn pectoral muscle two weeks ago into training. Johnson is 6-foot-3, light on his feet and ever lighter on his gloves. Klitschko is 6-foot-8, plods around the ring like Frankenstein and goes by the nickname Dr. Iron Fist.

Klitschko has fought only faintly better opposition than Johnson has. Klitschko is 32-1 with 31 knockouts. His lone loss was to IBF champ Chris Byrd in April 2000.

Lewis hasn't fought since destroying Mike Tyson last June. Now he's fighting a behemoth with only two weeks to prepare.

"Why wait?" Lewis said. "This will show how great I am, how I can adjust. This is my chance to show the world I can do that. It will take some adjusting to. I believe I am a boxer who can adjust and adapt to anything he brings.

"In my mind Vitali has bit off more than he can chew. Here it is. He's going to get it full force. He wanted this fight so much. Be careful what you wish for because he's going to get it."

Lewis is at his worst when he is complacent. While Lewis has beaten every notable opponent of his era -- he never fought Riddick Bowe as a pro, but beat him to win Olympic gold -- Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman starched Lewis in dramatic fashion.

"We are all human beings," Klitschko said. "Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses. We aren't talking about a god here."

One of the reasons Rahman crushed Lewis is because the champ didn't pay attention to his training. He was distracted by the filming of the movie Ocean's Eleven, in which he fought Wladimir Klitschko. Wladmir thinks he picked up some of Lewis' flaws in the 20 hours they spent shooting the fighting scenes.

A perfect reminder of what could happen Saturday night was replayed on ESPN Classic early Wednesday morning. Joe Louis was supposed to mop up the ring with Max Schmeling's mug when they met in June 1936. Schmeling stopped Louis in the 12th round.

Vitali Klitschko, who lives in Germany, has become friends with the 97-year-old Schmeling. Come Sunday morning they might have more in common than their addresses.

Vitali Klitschko, the new heavyweight champ?

It shouldn't happen. But there are many reasons it could.

Twenty-five years of blah

One of the greatest and most historically significant heavyweight fights occurred 25 years ago this month. Larry Holmes beat Ken Norton in a back-and-forth brawl for the WBC title in the Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion. The bout was capped by a classic 15th round in which both boxers stood toe-to-toe, trading bombs.

As spectacular as that bout was, however, it also ushered in one of the bleakest eras the division has endured.

The heavyweight landscape has been pretty desolate ever since Holmes became champion, and that's a substantial reason why he has never received praise commensurate with his greatness.

Only three great champions have been developed since Holmes beat Norton: Lewis, Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Bowe could have been another one, but his career deteriorated faster than a popsicle on a radiator.

Holmes ruled for seven years and 20 title defenses at a time when network TV helped guide boxing into one of its most glorious periods. Still, the heavyweight division withered. John Tate, Mike Weaver, Michael Dokes, Gerrie Coetzee, Greg Page, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon and James "Bonecrusher" Smith all wore the WBA belt in the eight years after Holmes-Norton.

Feints and jabs...

Johnny Tapia has always had trouble finding a trainer he's comfortable with, and now the quirky fighter from Albuquerque is working vice versa. Tapia had agreed to train featherweight contender Zahir Raheem (22-0, 12 KOs), who is scheduled to fight next Tuesday on ESPN2. But when Tapia flew to Raheem's hometown of Tulsa, Okla., to intensify training last week, Tapia found Raheem in poor condition. Tapia walked away. ... For the record, Tapia isn't retired. The former 115-pound king says he still has a couple more fights left in him ... Naseem Hamed also insisted recently he's not retired. Hamed was hated for his narcissism and clowning, and no one was happier to see him get humbled by Marco Antonio Barrera than I was. But boxing needs Hamed to come back. He makes the sport far more interesting. Barrera is trying to sever ties with manager Ricardo Maldonado and promoter John Jackson of Forum Boxing for not informing him they were negotiating a third bout against Erik Morales. ... Fight fans might not be aware Jackson also is a big-time college football coach. He was the running backs coach under John Robinson at USC when Charles White and Marcus Allen won Heisman Trophies. Jackson, who has been coaching at UNLV since Robinson took over that program four years ago, got into some hot water last November when it was revealed he left a UNLV-Wyoming game in the fourth quarter to be ringside for Barrera's victory over Tapia. UNLV was winning by 8 at the time Jackson left, but Wyoming tied the score before losing in overtime. Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing hasn't had much luck promoting heavyweights. Last summer prospect Jo-el Scott, then undefeated, got floored three times in 86 seconds by an opponent with a 6-5 record. A few months ago SRL Boxing was sued by undefeated prospect Joe Mesi, who eventually paid $90,000 to split from the company. And two weeks ago SRL Boxing got Lawrence Clay-Bey knocked off by Eliecer Castillo at a time when Clay-Bey's career was gaining lost momentum. ... SRL Boxing might have a shot at the heavyweight prize with Juan Carlos Gomez, a former cruiserweight champ with dreams of accomplishing the same thing Holyfield did. Leonard has called in old friend Angelo Dundee to train Gomez. Tickets have been moving a little more briskly for Lewis-Klitschko. The count surpassed 10,000 over the weekend and promoter Gary Shaw is expecting about 15,000 to see the bout in person. ... Frank Bruno, 41, hasn't fought for seven years but officially applied for a boxing license with the intention of fighting 2000 Olympic gold medalist Audley (aka "Fraudley") Harrison. Bruno must pass an eye exam, which could be problematic. He has sustained a detached retina. Anyone else care if middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins ever fights again? He's truly great, but his pity-me attitude is growing exponentially tiresome. When he finally does retire he might be known more for his constant bitching than for holding the middleweight record for most consecutive title defenses.

Other champions of the past 25 years include John Ruiz, Frans Botha -- Frans freaking Botha! -- Bruce Seldon, Frank Bruno, Pinklon Thomas, Trevor Berbick, Tony Tucker and a 45-year-old George Foreman. Now, I recently wrote about Foreman's prominence and how remarkable his comeback was, but a 45-year-old champion speaks volumes on the dearth of heavyweight talent.

There isn't much help on the horizon either. Perhaps only thing that could revive the division is if Hispanic fighters fortified it like they have the lower weight classes, carrying the sport into the 21st century.

But I hope the next one is better than John Ruiz.

Canastota dreamin'

Where else can you listen to former heavyweight champ Jimmy Ellis sing gospel on Sunday morning, hold a casual conversation with Leon Spinks (or at least attempt to) and nosh on a Carmen Basilio sausage sandwich?

There's only one place and one weekend.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: No boxing fan should ever pass up an opportunity to attend the International Boxing Hall of Fame's annual induction weekend. Every fight fan -- or sports autograph collector -- should be required by law to make at least one pilgrimage to the shrine in the quaint village of Canastota, N.Y., about 20 minutes east of Syracuse.

Two weeks ago I attended my third induction in four years. The only thing that kept me from going last year was the unfortunate coincidence the ceremonies took place the same weekend Lewis and Tyson fought in Memphis.

The IBHOF is perhaps the most fan-friendly of all sports halls. Scores of ring legends roam the museum grounds and sign their names freely and frequently. You never know what you'll see. This year former junior welterweight champ Aaron Pryor got married there.

Foreman was the most notable member of the class of 2003. He was inducted with welterweight king Curtis Cokes, junior welterweight champ Nicolino Locche, three-division champ Mike McCallum, journalist Jack Fiske and author Budd Schulberg. Ten more were inducted posthumously: Fred Apostoli in the modern category; Battling Battalino, Louis Kaplan, Tom Sharkey and Jess Willard in the old-timer category; Caleb Baldwin and Joe Goss in the pioneer category; and promoter Dan Duva, booking agent Dewey Fragetta and manager Al Weill in the non-participant category.

The IBHOF also got a chance to show off its $400,000 Courtyard of Champions Event Pavilion, a 1,000-seat open-air amphitheater that adds not only square footage, but also a sporty-yet-stately panache.

You owe it to yourself as a boxing fan to clear time off your schedule in early June 2004. You won't regret it.

Lewis unplugged

Lennox Lewis, in a wide-ranging interview with Gavin Evans of the London Observer, delivered some intriguing responses.