Boxing

Right made might in 2001

 A right to the head made Hasim Rahman the WBC-IBF heavyweight champion with an upset fifth-round knockout of Lennox Lewis. Another right gave Lewis a fourth-round KO in the rematch.

 Yet another right backed up Bernard Hopkins' boast that he is the best middleweight in the world and made him the third undisputed champion with an 11th-round victory over previously unbeaten Felix "Tito" Trinidad.

 The other undisputed champions were super lightweight Kostya Tszyu and light heavyweight Roy Jones Jr.

 Lewis' rematch victory put him in line for a major-money defense against Mike Tyson, who fought in October for the first time in a year and who had, as usual, out-of-ring problems.

 It was a bad year for Evander Holyfield, who keeps saying he wants to become undisputed heavyweight champion before he retires. Retirement almost certainly will come first for the 39-year-old Holyfield, who lost the WBA title on points to John Ruiz, then failed to win at least a piece of the title for a fifth time when he and Ruiz fought to a dull 12-round draw.

 It was a worse year for James Butler. After having his gloves removed following a decision loss to Richard Grant at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on Nov. 24, Butler knocked down Grant.

 In the audience were 500 police officers and firefighters who began chanting "Cuff him, Cuff him." Butler was arrested and suspended. Grant received stitches for a cut tongue.

 Again there were lawsuits about who should fight whom and when.

 There also was a reminder of boxing's risks.

 Beethavean Scottland was knocked out in the 10th round of a light heavyweight bout by George Jones on June 26 in New York and died a week later. He was 26.

 Jones returned to boxing on Dec. 14 and was stopped in the seventh round by Eric Harding in Uncasville, Conn.

 Another ring death involved 19-year-old Cresencio Mercado. He died on April 21 a week after he scored a first-round knockout in his pro debut in Pueblo, Colo. Mercado climbed on the ropes and waved his arms to celebrate his victory, but collapsed when he returned to his corner.

 Boxing lost one of its great teachers when Eddie Futch died at age 90 on Oct. 10 in Las Vegas. Futch, a close friend of Joe Louis, worked with 20 world champions, including heavyweights Joe Frazier and Larry Holmes. He was praised for not allowing Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th round against Muhammad Ali in the "Thrilla in Manila" because he was concerned about Frazier's health.

 Lewis' loss to Rahman was a harsh reminder that a fighter must have good physical condition and focus. The 36-year-old Lewis was involved in the filming of a remake of the movie "Oceans Eleven" in Las Vegas and didn't go to South Africa to get acclimated to the 5,200-feet altitude until two weeks before the April 22 fight.

 The defending champion from Britain, weighing a career high 253 pounds, used his excellent left jab sparingly while loading up with his right. He got hurt early in the fifth and was knocked out by a smashing right to the jaw.

 In the rematch Nov. 17 in Las Vegas, Lewis controlled the fight with his jab, then knocked out Rahman with a crunching right to the jaw.

 "He had his 15 minutes of glory," Lewis said. "The titles were on loan. They're now back with me."

 The fight was set up when Lewis won his court case to enforce a rematch clause. Rahman, who signed with promoter Don King after beating Lewis, a deal also upheld in court, had wanted to fight someone else first.

 Ruiz won the WBA title by outpointing Holyfield on March 3 in Las Vegas. The King-promoted rematch was supposed to be in Beijing in August, but it ended up in a bingo hall at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., on Dec. 15.

 Tyson, who had not fought since Andrew Golota quit after two rounds Oct. 20, 2000, returned to action on Oct. 13 and stopped Brian Nielsen after six rounds in Copenhagen, Denmark.

 Meanwhile, he kept making news away from boxing. Tyson, who served three years in an Indiana prison for rape, was accused of rape in California but no charges were filed. At year's end, police were investigating accusations he raped a woman in Las Vegas.

 Then former boxer Mitchell Rose, who had a 2-8-1 record, contended the former undisputed heavyweight champion knocked him down outside a New York nightclub on Dec. 16. Police were looking into those claims, too.

 Hopkins didn't need to stop Trinidad to win, but the right hand that knocked down the Puerto Rican put an exclamation point on the Philadelphia fighter's emergence from the shadows of Trinidad, Jones, Mosely and Oscar De La Hoya.

 The 36-year-old Hopkins, an IBF middleweight champion since 1995, defended that title and won the WBC championship on a decision over Keith Holmes on April 14. That set up the fight against Trinidad, a former welterweight and super welterweight champion, who won the WBA 160-pound title by stopping William Joppy on May 12.

 Jones defended the undisputed light heavyweight title twice, while Tszyu, a Russian living in Australia, became undisputed super lightweight champion by stopping Zab Judah in the second round on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas.

 The unbeaten Mosley defended the WBC welterweight title twice, and on Jan. 26 in New York was to fight unbeaten Vernon Forrest, who won the vacant IBF title on points over Raul Frank on May 14 in New York.

 De La Hoya became a champion in a fifth weight class when he won the WBC super welterweight title on a lopsided decision over Javier Castillejo on June 23 in Las Vegas. He was supposed to defend the title against Roman Karazin of Russia on Dec. 8, but he tore cartilage in his wrist and had to undergo surgery.