NEW YORK -- Lennox Lewis won't fight again if he loses his rematch with WBC-IBF heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.

"If I can't win this fight, why should I go on?" the 36-year-old Lewis said Wednesday at the second news conference in two days for the Nov. 17 bout.

The boxers opened the fight hype Monday in Rahman's hometown of Baltimore.

Lewis, a prohibitive favorite when he was knocked out in the fifth round by a single Rahman right hand April 22 in South Africa, is a 3-1 pick to win the title back at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

"He believes he can do the same thing again," Lewis said. "I'm telling you he can't."

Said the 28-year-old Rahman: "I don't give Lennox any credibility. I listened to his statements before the first fight. None of them came true. Why should I listen to him?"

Lewis declined to blame the loss on his preparation or lack thereof. He instead suggested Rahman landed a lucky punch.

"You can't walk into the ring and not get hit. That punch that got through was his lottery punch," Lewis said

"He's definitely right," Rahman responded.

"I cashed in on it."

Rahman was given his title shot only four fights after he was knocked out in eighth round by Oleg Maskaev on Nov. 6, 1999.

"That's the best thing ever happened to me," Rahman said. "It helped me get this fight. It changed my attitude toward boxing. I learned you can't take anybody lightly, and you've got to give 100 percent."

Lewis sounded a similar theme Wednesday.

The loss to Rahman "was a wakeup call," the former champion from Britain said. "It ignited a flame in me to come back to the game and do it right. I've been there before and I know how to get there again."

Lewis lost the WBC title when he was knocked down by a right hand and stopped in the second round by Oliver McCall on Sept. 24, 1994. He regained the title when McCall stopped fighting in the fifth round Feb. 7, 1997.

Rahman, who signed a promotional contract with Don King after becoming champion, wanted to have another fight before giving Lewis a rematch. Lewis went to court, and a federal judge ruled Rahman had to fight Lewis or not fight anyone for 18 months.

Rahman, who got $1.5 million for the first fight, is to get a minimum of $10 million. Lewis, who received $7 million in April, is expected to get about $10 million this time.

The winner stands to make much more in a championship defense against Mike Tyson. A Lewis victory would send a Tyson fight into negotiations between HBO, which has Lewis under contract, and Showtime, which has a deal with Tyson.

Although the rematch will be carried by TVKO, HBO's pay-per-view arm, Rahman is a free agent, having rejected a multifight deal with HBO.