Lennox Lewis's army of detractors were well and truly put in their places by his annihilation of Mike Tyson in Memphis on Saturday night.

Almost every other pundit around the globe had written Lewis off, believing he would not be able to survive the expected onslaught by Tyson in the early rounds.

I'll admit, I had my doubts but they only lasted one round. Even my brother-in-law, one of the few people to predict an unconditional Lewis victory, was pensive after Tyson caught the British world champion in the first three minutes.

But it was the minute between the first and second rounds that proved to be the defining moment for Tyson.

He had given it his best shot. But as he sat on his stool, it seemed the years of drinking binges, drug abuse and womanising had caught up and got him in a headlock Mick McManus would have been proud of. Lewis was too big, too strong, too powerful and Tyson knew it.

We were left with one of this century's most evocative sporting images as one of boxing's finest-ever exponents lay bloodied and beaten on the canvas like a mugging victim.

The supposed 'Baddest Man on the Planet' turned into a child-like figure, almost pathetically begging for a re-match.

Tyson's life story is a human tragedy. Had he steered clear of the likes of Don King, he could have been one of the greatest fighters the boxing world had ever seen and, at 35, have a healthy bank balance.

He has lost, or more to the point, been cheated out of millions of dollars, When his career comes to an end and the hangers-on and leeches move on to their next victim, I really fear for his well-being.

Could he go the same way as Sonny Liston? He was shot dead in a seedy motel room less than seven years after a young Cassius Clay beat him. He died penniless.

I sincerely hope not. The last thing Tyson needs is a re-match. A handful of real friends would be far better.

As for Lewis, can he now be considered one of the greatest fighters ever? I think he should be in the top five at the very least.

Everyone likes to speculate about whether he would have beaten Ali, Louis or Marciano. But I don't think anyone really knows when Lewis reached his peak. He's 36 years old now.

Ali was considered old when he won back the title aged 32. Ali's peak might well have been when he was banned from fighting for refusing to go to Vietnam.

It is clear Lewis is the best boxer this country has ever produced. Perhaps President Blair, when he has finished toadying to Mick Jagger, should think about giving him a knighthood.

He is one of Britain's biggest-ever sporting icons. But think how big he would have been had his career been charted on terrestrial TV.

It seems an age away since Gulls Eye, the fanzine which I used to help run, revealed the Goldstone was going to be sold. The date of our big scoop was July, 1995.

The Brighton and Hove planning committee can today go a long way to ending seven years of hurt by giving the Falmer Stadium application the green light.

Having read the figure in The Argus, I still cannot fathom how there are over 7,000 objections to the proposal.

I hope the anti-Falmer submissions are scrutinised thoroughly. I wonder how many Mr M. Mouses or Miss D. Ducks appear on the petitions?

If the objectors are all genuine, then there are a lot of short-sighted and narrow- minded people living in Sussex because after all the debate, I've yet to hear a creditable argument against the stadium.