The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 61

D2 VANCOUVER SUN. Tl IL'KSDAY, AI'RII. 1'), 2001 SPORTS FEEDING OFF Retirement plan PGA's best kept secret Three-phase scheme designed to provide 'financial shelter for a rainy day' By RANDY PHILLIPS the ivthm MIKE HUTCHINGSREUT ERS World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis set to defend his title. dhrica of 11 2 Early bird looks to spread his net io of followers after taking care of business By OLIVER HOLT feinfe? NE0NTS0MAAP IBF heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis of Britain works out early Wednesday morning In South Africa. JOHANNESBURG Dawn was still an hour away but the first hints of light were streaking across African skies.

Groups of workers sat silent and still in the back of pick-up trucks as they headed away from Soweto for the day and the street sellers were starting to lay out rows of fruit at each countryside crossroads. On the veld above the street-lamp glare of the city, Lennox Lewis had already been hard at work for five hours. He had risen shortly after midnight and run out into the darkness of the lanes around his secluded hotel. He had run past the house opposite, with its prowling guard dogs and high fences topped with coils of barbed wire, through the light mists of the early hours and under the branches of the jacaranda trees. When he returned, he had worked in the ring that his team has erected in a conference room and sparred with his friend, Egerton Marcus.

This is the Africa that Lewis had come to see. There is a languid and compelling beauty about the place that mirrors the majesty of Lewis himself. It is something to do with the fecundity of the land and cheerful stoicism of the people. Later, Lewis spoke about how he was not just "going to -take the money and run" after his world title defence against Hasim Rahman, the American heavyweight, in the early hours of Sunday morning. He will travel north to go on safari.

He will see something of the country. It pained him, he said, that more people from the townships would not be able to see him fight. Lewis and Frank Maloney, his manager, would have liked the contest with Rahman to be outside in one of Johannesburg's big football stadiums. He felt angry that Rodney Berman, the promoter, had chosen to stage it in he sat down to talk and he smiled when someone asked him the last time he had suffered any kind of injury. "I hurt my thumb a few years The promoter did not want the masses to see me box.

He wanted to keep me enclosed LENNOX LEWIS at altitude because, unlike Rahman, he had given himself less than a fortnight to acclimatize. The environment, he said, would be his inspiration, not his downfall. "The South African people are still oppressed in one sense," he said. "They have come a long way since the end of apartheid but they still have a long way to go. I hope that me being the world heavyweight champion and a black man will give hope and inspiration to a lot of young kids out here.

Coming out here has made me feel like a true world champion. I am not only a champion to the British but to Africa as well." Dawn had broken by the time he left the clammy gym. The sky was clear blue, the sun was starting to burn off the mist and the tall grass was blowing in a light breeze. Africa was springing into life again and Lennox Lewis was feeding off its rhythms. The Times of London now what I need to be at my best.

I know how much time off I can afford. People have been talking about the fact that I took time off to film scenes for a movie in Las Vegas but I'm glad I did that because I was peaking too early. That filming did not involve a lot of energy on my part. I was sitting in my trailer most of the time. "I am still as motivated as ever.

Rahman has got a lot more to worry about than I have. Many boxers have tried to beat me. Many have come before him and failed and he is not going to be any different. I'm not taking him lightly. I know he has the tools but unless I stick my chin out, he will not hurt me.

I have more talent than him and that will make the difference." Lewis, who has been in his night-time routine for several days now to prepare him for his early start on Sunday, once more shrugged aside suggestions that he would struggle to cope with fighting Carnival City, with its capacity of 6,000. Most spectators will be white because they are the only ones who can afford the ticket prices. Moreover, the fight comes at a time when black churches are begging the government to shut down the country's casinos because they are ruining the lives of so many township dwellers, lured by the promise of easy money and an escape from the poverty of their existence. That issue was the basic cause of the bitterness that exists between Berman and Lewis and by Wednesday the promoter and his star attraction were in a state of open warfare. "The promoter did not want the masses to see me box," Lewis said.

"He wanted to keep me enclosed so that only a certain set of people could see the fight." Away from the political manoeuverings, though, the serenity of his surroundings appears to be inspiring Lewis. It was just after 6 a.m. when MONTREAL There's no pressure on my 11-year-old son to make it to the PGA Tour, but if he did and played for, let's say, 17 years, he'd be a very rich man -without ever having won a single tournament. The revelation comes from an analysis of the PGA Tour's retirement plan, the tour's best-kept secret. In a comprehensive and startling study of the plan published recently in Golfweek, if a 26-year-old player began a 17-year career on the tour this year and averaged 130th place on the money list, he would earn $34.1 million US in deferred compensation by age 60.

If he averaged 75th on the money list, he would earn $42.6 million. And 30th, $78.6 million. And that doesn't include prize money or money from commercial endorsements gathered along the way. Staggering, isn't it? The brainchild of former tour commissioner Deane Beman, who had a "vision to provide financial shelter for a rainy day," and fine-tuned by New York tax attorney Victor Ganzi, the plan was put into effect in 1983 and is regarded as the best in professional sports. The three-phase plan, in a nutshell, works like this: First, a player is fully vested in the plan after playing 15 official PGA Tour events for five or more years and earns contributions based upon the number of cuts he makes during the season.

This year a cut is projected to be worth $3,500 and it doubles after making 15 cuts. The tour projects this year's leader in making cuts will receive about $150,000. More than 200 players are expected to receive "credits" with the average player receiving a contribution of $60,000. Distribution of the pension begins after age 50, one year after a player drops below 15 starts, and no later than age 60 and it is distributed over a 20- to 25-year period, depending on the age payouts began. The second phase involves player incentives with full vesting based on a player's schedule over a four-year period and occurs if a player plays in 100 events; or plays each event on the schedule at least once; or increases his average playing schedule by three events.

The top 70 players in each of three season segments share in a contribution based on their rank in an adjusted money list. Each segment is worth $2 million with incentives ranging from $360,000 for first place to $4,000 for 70th. As an example, Tiger Woods was the top earner in the incentive portion of the plan last season earning a contribution of $1.08 million. Another 117 players earned average contribution of $51,282. Incentive plan distributions begin at age 60 and continue for 15 years.

The final phase is bonuses paid in relation to where a player finishes then season on the tour's official money list and vesting occurs immediately upon earning a contribution. The top 150 plan members at the end of this season will earn: Nos. 1-30, $75,000 each; 31-70, 71-125, 126-150, $30,000. Distribution begins after age 45 and no later than age 60 and benefits are paid out over a five-year period. To date the plan has amassed more than $200 million in total assets and while some critics on the outside claim the tour's projections are unrealistically high, many players realize just how good it is.

"Of the five or six good things Deane Beman did for the tour, that retirement plan, was the best," two-time U.S. Open cham-pion Curtis Strange told Golfweek. And what of Woods? How much is the best player in the world forecast to receive based on what he's done so far? About $300 million in retirement payouts over 20 years once he becomes fully vested in all three aspects of the plan. Last season alone, based on the $1.21 million in retirement contributions Woods earned during his record season figure to be worth $12.9 million after he turns 60. Is it too much to ask an 11-year-old to hit a golf ball 300 yards? The Montreal Gazette On what his promoter wants for the title defence.

back," Lewis said. "Playing pool. That's the only injury I can remember. I don't take a beating in my fights. I don't really get hurt and that gives me longevity in this sport.

"I have come more into myself as an athlete. I know American challenger says he can take Lewis ii" 4 oJ 1'." illl'jll fl! 1)1 I 4t f. ference four days before the fight at Carnival City Casino, it was clear that the defending champion had big advantages in terms of height and weight. Three inches taller at 6'5" and 22 pounds heavier at 269 pounds, Lewis appeared to tower over the challenger. Rahman said that didn't worry him.

"Guys like Michael Grant and Andrew Golota who both lost to Lewis they just froze," he said. "They were afraid of the man in front of them. "They might be bigger than me but that's just size. But you can't see my heart. Really it's this big," he said stretching his arms out wide.

"Lewis will have to freeze me for me to stop fighting. There's no fear here, baby. I'm going to do it my way at my pace. I won't let him dictate to me. I will stand my ground and dictate my own pace." Whether he will be able to do that against a fighter who will be in his 15th world title fight, has twice fought Evan-der Holyfield and has a record of 38-1-1 remains to be seen.

But Rahman, who has a record of 34 wins and two defeats, faces an opponent who has been distracted during the buildup, has arrived here much later than is recommended for a fight at alti- Lack of reputation and record doesn't deter Hasim Rahman By ROBERT MILLWARD BRAKPAN, South Africa Based on size, reputation and record, Hasim Rahman doesn't have much going for him when he attempts to pull off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Yet the American fighter, who tries to take the WBC and IBF world heavyweight titles from Lennox Lewis, counts two big things in his favour: Attitude and altitude. While Lewis was hanging out with movie stars Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Brad Pitt at the filming of Ocean's Eleven in Las Vegas two weeks ago, Rahman shut himself off from his wife and three young children to fly out early to South Africa to get used to the altitude. Lewis flew out two weeks later and is basically playing catchup for a fight that takes place at 5 a.m. local time Sunday (8 p.m.

PDT Saturday) to accommodate North American TV. When the two fighters met head-to-head at a news con yi MIKE HUTCHINGSREUTERS Heavyweight boxing challenger Hasim Rahman of the U.S. works out Wednesday. Foreman in Zaire in October 1974, Lewis said that fighting in Africa was "something I always wanted to do. "My hero, Muhammad Ali, did the same thing and I wanted to follow in his footsteps," Lewis said.

"I want to leave this country having spread a little magic myself." Lewis, now fighting out of Britain, won a gold medal for Canada as a super-heavyweight at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. The Associated Press ney Berman, the local promoter of the fight. "They are simply not approachable, and in the production of this magnitude that is not acceptable. Quite frankly it's the only thing that's marring this truly world event for me as the promoter." The negative publicity Lewis has received is a blot on what he says he came here to achieve. Referring to Muhammad Ali's stunning 'Rumble in the Jungle' victoiy over George tude and hasn't made himself overly popular with the locals.

Although Lewis attended the remembrance service for the 43 soccer fans who died at Ellis Park last week and went to Soweto on Sunday, he has remained largely out of sight since then while trying to make up for lost time in training. "Look, Lewis himself is a nice enough guy, but Team Lewis, as the whole entourage is called, displays pure arrogance," said Rod.