There was little love lost between the two fighters in the build-up to their fight at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

And at a post-fight press conference, the Briton said he was "very happy" to have exacted revenge for Rahman's shock win in April.

"He is the Buster Douglas of the 21st century," said Lewis.

"I had too many attributes for him."

He said that Rahman had given him a leather belt as a mock replacement for the world title belts he had lost in South Africa.

And Lewis poignantly brought the belt back and placed it in the seat where Rahman should have been sitting at the press conference.

The American was in hospital at the time undergoing precautionary checks.

"When we were in South Africa, I said the belts were on loan. He's had his 15 minutes of glory and now the belts are coming back to me," said Lewis.

"Maybe I didn't take him seriously enough then but I was in good shape. He got through with one great punch.

The 36-year-old also claimed a moral victory over Rahman, after landing his speedy knock-out blow just 89 seconds into the fourth round.

"I wanted to knock him out a little quicker than he knocked me out so in that sense I've got one up on him.

"He showed a lot of disrespect and I kept all these things and said 'you're going to pay fight time'."

Lewis' trainer Emanuel Steward said that a conversation he had with Lewis on Friday had convinced him that his fighter would win.

"I went up to his room and we watched a tape of the first fight in South Africa again. Then Lennox told me that Rahman does not have the class to win the rematch.

Fancy footwork

"So we played a little ping pong and from then on I was very confident."

Rahman paid his dues to Lewis after the fight.

"I've got to give him respect - he prepared for the fight well.

"It was a nice hard right hand which I didn't see coming - but any of us can get beaten on any given day.

"He's got the title and he's the champion. He fought a good fight and you can't take that away from him.

"It wasn't just his jab but his distance. His footwork was good, he stopped me landing my jab - and I thought he was attacking earlier than last time."