NEW YORK -- Lennox Lewis quickly hit on a formula for success against Michael Grant.

"Every time I hit him he went down, so I just kept hitting him," the heavyweight champion said after knocking down Grant three times in the first round and knocking him out in the second Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

	Unlike in his previous fight, Michael Grant had no comeback in him against Lennox Lewis.

After his crushing defeat, his first in 32 fights, Grant said of his future, "It ain't over till it's over."

It became apparent to the crowd of 17,324 in the first round that the 27-year-old Grant's title bid wasn't going to last very long.

Grant came charging out at the opening bell intent on taking the fight to Lewis. By the time the bell rang ending the round, Grant had been down three times.

"I was surprised when he came at me," the 34-year-old Lewis said. "I realized that I had superior hand speed. I could see when he was winding up. I just held my position so I could get a good shot."

Referring to his decision to jump on Lewis, Grant said: "It was stupidity on my part."

The fight ended at 2:53 of the second round after Grant went down from a thunderous right uppercut that put him on his back. He did his best to fight his way out of a fog and get to his feet, but he couldn't beat the referee's count of 10.

Round-by-round breakdown

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 6 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 8 . 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 7 as the bell rang. 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.

"Styles make fights and I don't get paid for overtime," said Lewis, who had been criticized for being too cautious and lackadaisical.

"I just come to conquer," said Lewis, who earned the right to be called the world's premier heavyweight.

Next, Lewis is expected to fight Francois Botha on July 15 in London and then could fight David Tua in November. The fight the champion from Britain really would like would be against Mike Tyson.

The first knockdown Saturday night came when the 6-foot-5, 247-pound Lewis dropped the 6-7, 250-pound Grant with a right to the head with 1:22 remaining in the first round. Grant struggled up at 6, took an 8-count and then was sent reeling into a neutral corner from a flurry of punches.

Since the ring post and the ropes held up Grant, Arthur Mercante ruled it a knockdown and gave him an 8-count. Grant was trying to come back on wobbly legs and it appeared he might escape further damage, when a short left and big right to the head dropped him again with 20 seconds remaining. He struggled up at 7 and then the bell rang.

The bell could not save Grant this time as it did when he was knocked down twice in the first round against Andrew Golota in his previous fight, a fight which he rallied to win by stopping Golota in the 10th.

A CompuBox punch analysis credited Lewis with landing 47 of 80 punches and Grant 22 of 47. Of Lewis' connections, 34 were power punches.

Although Lewis had become the WBA, WBC and IBF champion by beating Evander Holyfield in their rematch, only the WBC and IBF titles were at stake on this Saturday night.

A federal judge ruled Lewis must give up the WBA title because he breached a contract with Don King by signing to fight Grant rather that make a mandatory WBA title defense.

Anybody who watched Lewis' performance against Grant knows who the real heavyweight champion is now.

The combined weight of 497 pounds made it the heaviest title fight ever, surpassing the 488¾ when Primo Carnera (259½) outpointed Paulino Uzcudun (229¼) on Oct. 22, 1933.

Grant would have become the tallest heavyweight champion, but Lewis made short work of that. The tallest champion was 6-6¼ Jess Willard, who reigned from 1915-1919.

Lewis, who was guaranteed $10 million to $4 million for Grant, is now 36-1-1 with 28 knockouts.