Referee Arthur Mercante Junior counted out the hopelessly outgunned Grant after two minutes and 53 seconds of round two at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Every time I hit him, he went down, so I kept on hitting him

Lennox Lewis

Grant, previously undefeated, had already been knocked down three times in the opening round, confirming predictions of a short, successful defence for the champion.

It was one of Lewis' most impressive performances and he crowned it by saying that he would like his next defence to be staged in England.

"I want my fans to be able to see my at home," he said.

He is being lined up to fight Francois Botha on 15 July.

The champion, who has previously been criticised for being too cautious, never gave Grant a chance in front of a noisy 17,000 crowd.

They had barely settled down after the introductions when Lewis knocked the challenger to the floor with a right to the body and a right to the head.

Grant is ruthlessly pummelled by the champion

The American struggled up at the count of six and took the mandatory eight-count.

Lewis kept up the pressure on Grant and a flurry of punches sent the challenger reeling into a corner, where he was kept upright by the ring post.

The referee ruled it a knockdown and gave Grant another eight-count.

Then, with 21 seconds of the opening round left, Lewis caught him with a right-left and a hard right to the head that saw the big American fall to the canvas again.

This time, Grant was temporarily saved by the bell.

Grant was struggling to survive throughout the second round, and he was finally counted out after Lewis landed another tremendous right uppercut.

$10m purse

It was Lewis' quickest title win since he defeated Andrew Golota inside a round in Atlantic City in October 1997. He walked away with $10m in prize money.

Speaking after the fight, the champion said he had been determined to show the world he was the best fighter on the planet.

"It was only a matter of time," he said. "Every time I hit him he went down, so I kept on hitting him."

He said his next title defence would be in England.

The combined weights of the massive fighters - nearly 500lbs - made it the heaviest title bout in the history of boxing.

Grant had the advantage in both height and weight, but that was virtually the only department in which statistics favoured the 6ft7in American.

Suspicions that the big American was being thrown in for a title shot too soon were confirmed by this ruthless demolition by the infinitely more streetwise Lewis.