Lennox Lewis | Biography & Boxing Record | Britannica.com Pernell Whitaker Lennox Lewis, in full Lennox Claudius Lewis (born September 2, 1965, London , England), first British boxer to hold the undisputed heavyweight world championship since Bob Fitzsimmons held the title in 1899. Lewis was born to Jamaican parents, spent his early childhood in England , and then moved with his mother to Canada . An all-around athlete in high school, he excelled in several sports but soon focused on boxing and developed into one of Canada’s best amateur fighters. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea , Lewis beat American Riddick Bowe to earn the gold medal in the superheavyweight division. Lewis returned to his native England in 1989 to pursue a professional career. He was undefeated in his first 22 professional fights and earned a title bout with Bowe, who had become the heavyweight champion. The 6-foot 5-inch (1.96-metre), 230-pound (104.3-kg) Lewis was exceptionally large for a boxer, and his size posed special problems for the average heavyweight.

Not surprisingly, Bowe and his manager chose to pursue lucrative fights against easier opponents. The World Boxing Council (WBC) stripped Bowe of his title and awarded it to Lewis, who defended the title three times before losing in an upset to American Oliver McCall in London in September 1994. For the next few years Lewis won all his fights and worked to secure another championship fight. In 1997 American boxer Mike Tyson held the WBC heavyweight title but was unwilling to face the much taller Lewis. When a court order demanded that Tyson defend his crown against Lewis, he surrendered the title. On February 7, 1997, Lewis again faced McCall for the vacant WBC crown and won by technical knockout in the fifth round after McCall refused to fight. A unification bout in March 1999 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden against American Evander Holyfield , who held the heavyweight titles of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) ended in a controversial draw. The November rematch in Las Vegas , Nevada , was another closely scored fight, but Lewis landed more punches and emerged, finally, as the undisputed champion of the heavyweight division.

In April 2000 Lewis was stripped of the WBA portion of his title after a legal dispute with the promoter Don King prevented a timely defense of his title against an acceptable opponent. That same year Lewis went on to defeat Michael Grant, Franz Botha, and David Tua to retain his IBF and WBC heavyweight titles. In a surprising outcome in April 2002, Lewis lost to underdog Hasim Rahman in a fifth-round knockout. In the November rematch Lewis reclaimed his title from Rahman, knocking him out in the fourth round. After much legal and business wrangling, a bout with Tyson was finally set for June 8, 2002, in Memphis , Tennessee. Lewis knocked Tyson out in the eighth round. In the fall of 2002, Lewis relinquished the IBF portion of his heavyweight title. While still recognized as the legitimate heavyweight world champion, Lewis announced his retirement in 2004 with a record of 41 wins (32 by knockout), 2 losses, and 1 draw.

Britannica Stories Lennox Lewis Facts & Biography | Famous Boxers Born: September 2nd, 1965 in West Ham, London, England Nationality: British Famous For: Holding the undisputed world heavyweight title Awards: Olympic gold medal, International Boxing Hall of Fame, Commander of the Order of the British Empire Lennox Lewis is a Canadian-British former boxer, who was the last man to have been recognized as undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Lewis was the Olympic champion in the super-heavyweight division at the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea – representing Canada. He turned professional the following year and won several championships before uniting the belts in 1999. Since his retirement in 2004, Lewis has become a well-known media personality and boxing commentator. Early Life Lewis, who has Jamaican heritage through both of his parents, was born on September 2nd, 1965 in London. His family moved to Canada a few years afterward, settling in the Ontario city of Kitchener. Lewis displayed considerable ability at boxing from a young age, and he was good enough by 1983 to be crowned the Junior Amateur Champion of the World.

His first Olympic appearance came at the Los Angeles Games in 1984, where he reached the quarter-final stage before losing to eventual gold medalist Tyrell Biggs. After his Olympic appearance, Lewis did not immediately turn professional. He went on to win his first gold medal at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in 1986. After attaining a silver medal at the Pan-American Games the following year, he achieved his goal by becoming an Olympic champion in 1988. At this point he did decide to move into the professional ranks – also making the decision to move back to the country of his birth. Once he was back in England, Lewis’s career progressed rapidly, and in 1992 he won his first world title when he knocked out Razor Ruddock in the second round, a win which gained him the WBC belt. He was to lose and regain this title several times during his career. Undisputed Champion During the 1990’s, Lewis had a mixed record in title fights, losing to Oliver McCall in 1994 but winning the rematch three years later in bizarre circumstances.

For reasons that remain uncertain, McCall started crying and declined to box in the fourth round, repeating this performance in the fifth. Lewis was therefore awarded the fight by the referee. However, it was in 1999 Lewis’s greatest achievement came as he fought Evander Holyfield . The first bout ended in a highly controversial tie; despite most analysts judging Lennox the better boxer on the night. A rematch was swiftly ordered, and Lewis won a unanimous points decision to become undisputed heavyweight champion. Lewis lost his undisputed crown a few months later when he declined to fight the WBC’s mandatory challenger, but a bigger shock came when he was knocked out by Hasin Rahman, who had been given little chance by the media, in 2001. Lewis won the swiftly arranged rematch easily. He then demonstrated clear superiority over former undisputed champion Mike Tyson a year later. Lewis decided to retire from boxing in 2003, and he took up roles in music promotion and sports management. A few years later, he was inducted into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the Sports Hall of Fame in Canada. Lewis has most recently been living in Jamaica.

Famous Boxers Lennox Lewis - BoxRec Lennox Lewis Hall of Fame bio: click Name: Lennox Lewis Birth Name: Lennox Claudius Lewis Born: 1965-09-02 Birthplace: West Ham, London, United Kingdom Hometown: London, United Kingdom Lewis won Gold at the 1988 Olympics Photo: Stan Behal/Toronto Sun Record: Usually listed as being either 85-9 or 94-11. However 85-11 is more close to what the records seem to suggest. With all Walkover results taken out and Lewis' record is likely 80-10. 5 of his defeats later being avenged. 1980 Ontario Junior Championships: Lost a 2-3 decision to Donovan Ruddock in the middleweight class May 1982 Lost a 3:2 decision to H. Thompson in the Canadian Junior Championships. Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist for Canada at the 1983 Junior World Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the 1984 Canadian Amateur Championships.

Canadian Super Heavyweight representative at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California, USA. Results: Defeated Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) RSC 3 Lost to Tyrell Biggs (United States) 0-5 Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the 1985 Canadian Amateur Championships. Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist for Canada at the 1985 World Cup Championships in Seoul, South Korea. Results: Defeated Juan Antonio Diaz (Argentina) RET-1 Lost to Vyacheslav Jakovlev (Soviet Union) 0-5 Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the 1986 Canadian Amateur Championships. Canadian Super Heavyweight representative at the 1986 World Amateur Championships in Reno, Nevada, USA. Lost a 2-3 decision to Petar Stoymenov of Bulgaria in his opening round match. Lost a 2:1 decision to T. Littles (USA) in Bay City USA in the Tope invitational. He then beat J. Davidson by RSC2 in the same tournament. Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist for Canada at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Lost in Semi finals to Valeriy Abadzhyan (URS) by RSC3 on a body shot in the TSC Tournament,Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, Berlin, GDR,October 01-07, 1986. Forfeited bout for third Place so is recorded as a loss by walkover to Ladislav Husarik (CZE) Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the 1987 Canadian Amateur Championships. Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist for Canada at the 1987 Pan-American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Results: Lost to Jorge Luis Gonzalez (Cuba) 1-4 Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist for Canada at the 1987 North American Championships in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Defeated Jorge Luis Gonzalez of Cuba by a 2-1 decision in the final. Lost in Quarter finals to Ulli Kaden (East Germany) by a 3:2 decision in the Amateur World Cup Oct 26th-31st 1987 Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the March 1988 Canadian Amateur Championships beating R. Ayotte by RET1.

Silver medalist in the Intercup in West Germany. Lewis beat Crispine Odera (KEN) by RSC2. Then avenged a previous defeat to Petar Stojmenov (BUL) by a 3:2 decision. In the finals Lewis lost a 5:0 points decision to Aleksandr Miroshnichenko (URS). Won the Canada Cup by beating Elton Wright (USA) by RET1 in June 1988 in Ottawa, Canada. Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist for Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Results: Defeated Chrispine Odera (Kenya) RSC 2 Defeated Ulli Kaden (East Germany) RSC 1 Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) WO Defeated Riddick Bowe (United States) RSC 2 Profesional Highlights Notes Lewis was born in England and moved to Canada at the age of 12. In his early days, Lewis was known as "The Kitchener Thunderbolt," as he learned to box in Kitchener, Ontario.

Lewis won the Lonsdale Belt outright after successfully defending his British Heavyweight Championship against Glenn McCrory in 1991 and Derek Williams in 1992. Lewis knocked out Razor Ruddock in two rounds in a WBC title eliminator on October 31, 1992. Before Riddick Bowe defeated Evander Holyfield to win the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship on November 13, 1992, he signed an agreement with the WBC to make his first title defense—if he should defeat Holyfield—against the winner of the title eliminator between Lewis and Ruddock. The WBC gave Bowe and Lewis until December 13 to reach an agreement or the fight would go to a purse bid. If Bowe refused to meet Lewis, the WBC title would be awarded to Lewis. Rock Newman , Bowe's manager, made two offers to Lewis. The first would have guaranteed Lewis $3 million, while giving Bowe 90% of the purse and Lewis 10%.

The second offer was for Lewis to refuse the WBC title, have an interim fight in the United States for $2.5 million, and then fight Bowe for $9 million or a percentage to be negotiated. Frank Maloney , the manager of Lewis, rejected both offers and countered with his own proposal: a 75-25 percent split of the purse. Newman turned it down. Maloney later had a change of heart and agreed to the first offer, but Newman told him he was too late. Newman said a deal for Bowe to defend the title against an opponent other than Lewis was imminent. On December 14, 1992, Riddick Bowe held a news conference and dumped his WBC title into a garbage can. "If Lewis wants the belt, he has to get it out of the garbage," Bowe said. The WBC then declared Lennox Lewis the new WBC heavyweight champion. Lewis was the first British-born boxer to win a world heavyweight title since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1897. Lennox Lewis | Boxing Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Personal Statistics Weight: {{convert/numdisp/fracExpression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".

Heavyweight |Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".|Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".| Heavyweight }}Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[".Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[". (Script error kg) Reach: 84 in (Script error cm) Boxing career information Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM , CBE (born 2 September 1965) is a retired boxer and the most recent undisputed world heavyweight champion . He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship. As an amateur he won gold representing Canada at the 1988 Olympic Games after defeating future heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe in the final. Lewis turned professional in 1989, winning his first 21 fights. In 1992 he knocked out Donovan Ruddock to take over the number one position in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings and eventually be declared WBC heavyweight champion in 1993. Lewis lost the title to Oliver McCall in 1994 but defeated McCall in a rematch to win the vacant WBC title in 1997.

He went on to defend the title four times, becoming the Lineal Champion after beating Shannon Briggs by KO in 1998. He became undisputed champion after defeating Evander Holyfield in November 1999. After defeating Mike Tyson by KO in 2002 and stopping Vitali Klitschko in 2003, Lennox Lewis retired from boxing in 2004. Lewis is 6 feet 5 inches (Bad rounding hereScript error centimetres) tall and has an 84-inch (Script error cm) reach . During his boxing prime, he weighed about 250 pounds (Script error kg). Lewis often referred to himself as "the pugilist specialist." Contents Edit Lewis was born on 2 September 1965, in West Ham, London, England to Jamaican-born parents. [2] At birth he weighed 10 pounds 10 ounces (Bad rounding hereScript error kg), and was given the name Lennox by the doctor, who said he looked like a Lennox. [3] Lewis moved to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in 1977 at the age of 12.

He attended Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute for high school, where he excelled in Canadian football, soccer and basketball. [4] Amateur career Edit Lewis eventually decided that his favorite sport was boxing. He became a dominant amateur boxer and won the world amateur junior title in 1983. [5] At the age of 18, Lewis represented Canada as a super heavyweight at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles . He advanced to the quarter-finals, where he lost a decision to American Tyrell Biggs , the eventual gold medalist. Lewis chose not to turn professional after the Olympics, and instead fought four more years as an amateur, hoping for a second chance to win a gold medal. At 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships , he lost in the preliminary round to Petar Stoymenov of Bulgaria. [6] After winning several more amateur titles during those years, he travelled to Seoul , South Korea for the 1988 Summer Olympics and achieved his goal. In the gold medal match, Lewis defeated future world champion Riddick Bowe by a second round referee stopped contest (RSC).

Professional boxing career Edit Having achieved that goal, Lewis declared himself a professional boxer and moved back to his native England. He claimed he'd always considered himself British, [7] [8] [9] but many British fans regard him as "a Canadian at heart and a Briton for convenience," as he had trained only in Canada and the United States and already lived half his life in North America. [10] He signed with the boxing promoter Frank Maloney and the early part of his pro career was filled with knockouts of journeymen. After he signed with American promoter Main Events [ citation needed ] he captured the European heavyweight title late in 1990 against Frenchman Jean Maurice Chanet . In his next fight in March 1991, Lewis won the British title against the undefeated world ranked Gary Mason , then won the Commonwealth title in April 1992 against Derek Williams. By this time, Lewis was a consensus top-five heavyweight in the world.

During this period Lewis defeated former WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver , 1984 Olympic Gold medalist Tyrell Biggs , former world cruiserweight title holders Glenn McCrory and Osvaldo Ocasio , and journeymen Levi Billups and Mike Dixon . WBC champion Edit On 31 October 1992, Lewis knocked out Canadian Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in two rounds for the number one contender's position in the WBC world rankings. At the time it was Lewis' most impressive win, and established him as one of the world's best heavyweights. Sportscaster Larry Merchant declared following the win "We have a great new heavyweight." The win over Ruddock made Lewis the number one contender for Riddick Bowe's heavyweight championship. Bowe refused to face Lewis, and held a press conference to dump the title in a trash can and relinquish it. On 14 December 1992, the WBC declared Lewis its champion, making him the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century.

Lewis successfully defended the belt three times, defeating Tony Tucker , who he knocked down for the first time in Tucker's career, and he followed this up with knockout victories over Phil Jackson and Frank Bruno . The Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno fight was the first time that two British-born boxers had fought for a version of the world heavyweight title in the modern era. [11] Loss to McCall Edit Lewis lost his WBC title to Oliver McCall on 24 September 1994 in a huge upset at the Wembley Arena in London. In the second round, McCall connected with a powerful right hook , putting Lewis down on his back. He was up at the count of six, but stumbled forward into the referee in a daze. Referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia felt Lewis was unable to continue and ended the fight, giving McCall the win by technical knockout. Lewis and others argued that the stoppage was premature and that a champion should be given the benefit of the doubt.

[12] They also contended that Garcia, a Mexican referee working for the Mexican-based WBC, had been persuaded by promoter Don King to end the fight early if the opportunity arose, in order to bring back the heavyweight title to his promotional stable. [13] After the fight, Lewis decided he needed a new trainer to replace Pepe Correa , who had become increasingly difficult to work with. Correa would subsequently denounce Lewis in public after being fired. Renowned trainer Emanuel Steward , who had been McCall's trainer during their fight, was one of Lewis' first choices for the task. Even before the fight with McCall, Steward had seen much potential in Lewis and immediately expressed a desire to work with him. He set about correcting several of Lewis' technical flaws over the course of the next few fights, which included maintaining a more balanced stance , less reliance on the right hand, and a particular focus on using a strong, authoritative jab ; the latter of which would become a hallmark of Lewis' style throughout his career. Their partnership would last until Lewis' retirement, with both having mutual praise and respect for each other to this day.

[13] Regaining the WBC title Edit In his first comeback fight Lewis was given a chance to fight for the mandatory challenger position within the WBC and won it by knocking out American contender Lionel Butler . However, at the behest of promoter Don King[ citation needed ] the WBC chose to bypass him and give Mike Tyson the first shot at the title that had recently been won by fellow Briton Frank Bruno against Oliver McCall. Bruno had previously lost to both Lewis and Tyson. While Lewis had the No. 1 contender's slot in the WBC rankings he knocked out Australian Justin Fortune , then defeated former WBO Champion Tommy Morrison in October 1995, and Olympic gold medallist and former WBO champion Ray Mercer by a close majority decision in May 1996. Lewis successfully sued to try to force Tyson to make a mandatory defense of the WBC title against him or force Tyson to give up the title, winning a four million dollar settlement from promoter Don King. Rather than fight Lewis, Tyson relinquished the WBC belt to fight Evander Holyfield , and the title was declared vacant.

This set up a rematch between Lewis and McCall, who squared off on 7 February 1997 in Las Vegas for the WBC title. In one of the strangest fights in boxing history, McCall (having lost the first three rounds) refused to box in the fourth and fifth rounds, then began crying in the ring, forcing the referee to stop the fight and award Lewis the victory and the title. As newly re-crowned WBC champion, Lewis successfully defended the title during 1997 against fellow Briton and former WBO world champion Henry Akinwande , who was disqualified after five rounds for excessive clinching. Lewis then met Poland's Andrew Golota , whom he knocked out in the first round. During 1998, Lewis again retained the WBC world title when he knocked out lineal champion Shannon Briggs in five rounds (Briggs had recently outpointed George Foreman in a controversial fight, to win the lineal title) and beat formerly-undefeated European champion Željko Mavrović from Croatia in a 12-round unanimous decision. Lewis stated in 2006 that his fight with Mavrovic was the most awkward win of his career.

[14] Lewis vs. Holyfield Edit On 13 March 1999, Lewis faced WBA and IBF title holder Evander Holyfield in New York City in what was supposed to be a heavyweight unification bout. Lewis fought a tactical fight, keeping Holyfield off balance with a long jab and peppering him with combinations almost at will. Although most observers believed Lewis had clearly won the fight, the bout was declared a draw, to much controversy. The raw statistics of the fight suggested the bout belonged to Lewis, who landed 348 punches compared to Holyfield's 130. Lewis also out-jabbed Holyfield 137 to 52. [15] Judge Eugenia Williams, who scored the fight in Holyfield's favour, said she saw Lewis land fewer punches than Holyfield. [16] Lewis vs. Holyfield II Edit The sanctioning bodies ordered a rematch. [17] Eight months later in Las Vegas (13 November 1999), the two men fought again in a more open and entertaining contest than the original fight, with the two boxers having some heavy exchanges from rounds 6 to 9.

The punch stats however still clearly favoured Lewis who landed 195 punches to Evander Holyfield's 137 punches, although interestingly Lewis landed 119 power shots and 76 jabs, showing a definite shift in his tactics from the first fight when he focused more on the jab. This time around the 3 Judges did score the fight unanimously (115–113, 116–112 & 117–111) all in favour of Lewis who became undisputed heavyweight champion of the World . In 1999, Lewis was given one of the most prestigious sports awards in Britain , being voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year . Reign as Undisputed Champion Edit After Lewis defeated Holyfield the WBA ordered Lewis to defend the title against John Ruiz of Puerto Rico, then an obscure Don King fighter who had been made the WBA's #1-ranked contender. The WBA gave permission for Lewis to fight his WBC mandatory Michael Grant first if he would fight Ruiz next, which Lewis agreed to.

Opposed to this, Ruiz's promoter challenged this decision in court on the basis of a clause in the Lewis-Holyfield rematch contract that said Lewis's first bout as undisputed champion would be against the WBA's number one contender. Lewis was therefore to be stripped of his WBA belt if he fought Grant first. It was because of this that the WBA instated its "Super Champion" title, giving unified titleholders who also hold a WBA belt more time to defend against mandatory challengers. Lewis proceeded to fight the 6 ft 8 inch American Michael Grant who he considered the best contender available. He successfully defended his WBC, IBO & IBF titles against Grant with a second round knockout victory in Madison Square Garden in April 2000. Later that same year Lewis knocked out South African Francois Botha in two rounds in London, before winning a 12-round decision against New Zealander and IBF mandatory opponent, David Tua in Las Vegas. Lewis vs. Rahman On 21 April 2001, Lewis was knocked out by 15-to-1 underdog Hasim Rahman in a bout in South Africa .

Prior to the bout, Lewis had a role in the film Ocean's Eleven in which he "boxed" against Wladimir Klitschko . Lewis vs. Rahman II Edit Lewis immediately sought a rematch with the new champion; however, Rahman, now being promoted by Don King, tried to secure another opponent for his inaugural title defence. Lewis took Rahman to court to honour the rematch clause in their contract. Rahman was ordered to honour the clause and give Lewis a rematch in his first title defence. While promoting the rematch with Rahman on ESPN's Up Close , the fighters got into a brawl [18] similar to the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in front of Howard Cosell on Wide World of Sports . Many[ who? ] felt the brawl was staged to promote the fight, so the reality of the episode is still a matter of debate. Lewis regained the title on 17 November by outclassing and then knocking out Hasim Rahman in the fourth round of their rematch. Lewis vs. Tyson File:Lewis-Tyson.jpg On 8 June 2002, Lewis defended his title against Mike Tyson .

A fight many had hoped would be a classic turned out to be one-sided as Lennox used his jab and superior reach to score a dominant knockout victory over "Iron Mike." By the end of the seventh round Tyson was tired and sluggish, his face swollen and his eyes cut. He was knocked out in the eighth by a right hook from Lewis. After the fight was over, George Foreman declared "He [Lewis] is, no doubt, the best heavyweight of all time. What he's done clearly puts him on top of the heap." [19] This fight was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the U.S., until it was surpassed by De La Hoya-Mayweather in 2007. [20] Ticket sales were slow because they were priced as high as $2,400, but a crowd of 15,327 turned up to see Memphis, Tennessee 's biggest-ever sporting event.

Tyson also had to pay Lewis $335,000 out of his purse for biting him at the news conference to announce the fight, which was originally scheduled for 6 April 2002 in Las Vegas. Las Vegas, however, rejected the fight because of Tyson's licensing problems and several other states refused Tyson a license before Memphis finally bid $12 million to land it. Lewis vs. Klitschko Edit In May 2003, Lewis sued boxing promoter Don King for $385 million, claiming that King used threats to have Tyson pull out of a rematch scheduled with Lewis then scheduled a fight with Kirk Johnson , but when Johnson suffered an injury in training, Lewis fought Vitali Klitschko , the WBC's #1 contender and former WBO champion. Lewis had planned to fight him in December, but since Klitschko had been on the undercard of the Johnson fight anyway, they agreed to square off on June 21. Lewis entered the ring at a career high 256½ pounds. [21] Lewis was dominated in the early rounds and was wobbled in round two by solid Klitschko punches.

Lewis opened a cut above Klitschko's eye with a right cross in the third round and gave a better showing in the fourth round, but was exhausted in the fifth and sixth rounds. Before the start of round seven the doctor advised that the fight should be stopped because of a severe cut above Klitschko's left eye, awarding Lewis victory by TKO. Klitschko was leading 58–56 on all three judges' scorecards when the fight was stopped. Interviewed about the fight by HBO, doctor Paul Wallace explained his decision: "When he raised his head up, his upper eyelid covered his field of vision. At that point I had no other option but to stop the fight. If he had to move his head to see me, there was no way he could defend his way against a punch." File:Lennox Lewis 2010.jpg Lewis announced his retirement in February 2004 and decided to pursue other interests, including sports management and music promotion. Lewis said he would not return to the ring. At his retirement, Lewis's record was 41 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, with 32 wins by knockout.

Though it was rumoured in an article published by the Daily Mail on the February 24 that he would return to fight Klitschko once again, Lewis quickly shot down those rumours on his personal website. In 2008 Lewis commented on a possible match up with Riddick Bowe . "He waits until I am in retirement to call out my name," said Lewis. "I will come out of retirement to beat up that guy. I'll beat him up for free." [28] Along with Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano he is one of three world heavyweight champions to have retired with no unavenged defeats. Outside boxing Edit In 2000, Lewis appeared on Reflection Eternal's debut album Train of Thought, giving a shout out on the track "Down for the Count." In 2002, Lewis was reportedly offered £5m by WWE chairman Vince McMahon to take up wrestling with WWE. His camp held discussions over a possible match with former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar in February 2003, at the No Way Out pay-per-view event.

[29] He had borne the Union Flag for the British Bulldog before his match against Bret "The Hitman" Hart at SummerSlam in 1992. In 2003, Lewis made a brief cameo appearance in the Jennifer Lopez and LL Cool J video "All I Have". Lewis played in the World Series of Poker in both 2006 and 2007, and was knocked out without winning any money. Lewis appeared on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice in 2008. He came in fourth place (out of 14). Lewis has also done a public service announcement against domestic violence for Do Something . [30] In 2008, Lewis was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame . [31] In 2009, in his first year of eligibility, Lewis was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame . [32] On 8 May 2010, Lewis was let go by HBO as a commentator for Boxing After Dark . In 2011 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

Personal life File:Lennox Lewis.jpg Upon retiring from boxing, Lewis moved to Miami Beach with his wife, Violet Chang, a former Miss Jamaica runner-up. They have four children. Lewis told AventuraUSA.com in 2007 that he is contemplating opening an "international boxing academy" and perhaps one day starting a record label, but he has yet to embark on either endeavour. Lewis supports the English football team West Ham United , the local team for the place of his birth. Lewis has a villa at the Tryall Club in Montego Bay, Jamaica . Lewis is an avid amateur chess player, and funded an after-school chess program for disadvantaged youths, one of whom earned a university chess scholarship at Tennessee Tech . [33] Amateur highlights Defeated Mohammad Youssuf (Pakistan) TKO 3 Lost to Tyrell Biggs (United States) points 1985 Silver Medalist at World Cup competition. 1986 Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh , Scotland 1987 Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist at Pan American Games in Indianapolis . Lost to Jorge Luis Gonzalez of Cuba in the final.

1987 Won the North American Super Heavyweight championship competition, defeating Jorge Luis Gonzalez Won the Super Heavyweight Gold medal for Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul , South Korea. Defeated Chris Odera (Kenya) TKO 2 Defeated Ulli Kaden (East Germany) TKO 1 Defeated Janusz Zarenkiewicz (Poland) forfeit Defeated Riddick Bowe (United States) TKO 2. Professional boxing record Lennox Lewis Biography – Life of English-Canadian Boxer Nationality English-Canadian Lennox Lewis was born to Jamaican parents in 1965 in West Ham, London. Later they moved to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Lennox had a troubled childhood which led him to following his mother to Canada in 1977 at the age of twelve. Beginning a Boxing Career In Canada, Lennox enrolled in the Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute for his High school studies. It was during this time that he exhibited exemplary sportsmanship by excelling in Canadian football, basketball, and soccer. After taking part in different sports, he eventually decided to take up boxing as his favorite sport where he excelled while fighting as an amateur boxer.

He began making a name for himself in the sport of boxing in 1983 when he won the world amateur junior title. At the young age of 18, Lewis represented his country at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. He was not impressed by his performance so he opted to remain an amateur for some time to improve and win a medal. His loss at the 1986 Amateur Boxing Championships at the preliminary round did nothing to discourage him. After the championships, he went on to win a number of titles. He finally achieved his dream in the 1988 summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. After his debut there, Lennox decided to become a professional boxer. Becoming a Professional Boxer After winning his first gold medal and the disappointing reception back in Canada, Lennox moved back to England where he signed up with Frank Maloney as his boxing promoter. In 1990, Lennox won the European heavyweight title after defeating Jean Maurice Chanet. His career steadily progressed with key defeats of boxing greats like Gary Mason and Derek Williams to take the British title and the Commonwealth title respectively.

Major Boxing Achievements Lennox’s steady rise in boxing was strongly felt in October of 1992 when he knocked out Donovan Ruddock of Canada in just two rounds. This win was very important as it made Lennox the number one contender in the World Boxing Council rankings. This was certainly one of his best achievements in his boxing career because it eventually put him against Riddick Bowe for the number one contender. In 1992, Lennox was declared the WBC champion after Riddick refused to face him. Lennox continued with his impressive performance, defending his title three times against the world’s best in the ring. Major Upset In 1994, Lennox lost his title to Oliver McCall in a technical knockout. After the loss, Lennox replaced his trainer and cited severed relations as the reason. He later picked Emanuel Steward who also happened to be McCall’s trainer during his title loss. This marked a major and important decision on Lennox’s career as Steward engaged him in a signature and unique style through his career until his retirement. Fighting Back After the loss to McCall, Lennox embarked on a journey for a comeback.

He easily won the mandatory challenger position which put him against American boxer Lionel Butler. Lennox successfully fought through a series of other fights with Justin Fortune, Tommy Morrison, and Ray Mercer. A Successful Comeback Lennox was set for a rematch with McCall in February of 1997 where he successfully recaptured the WBC title when McCall refused to continue fighting after losing the first three rounds. Lennox continued to defend the WBC title through the years. In March 1999, Lewis faced Evander Holyfield in a match many people had looked forward to. The fight was marred with a lot of controversy leading to a rematch. Lennox won the match to become the world’s undisputed champion and thereafter continued to reign supreme by defending the WBC, IBF and IBO title against possible contenders. Later Years Lewis’s years before retirement set him against Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko. Many boxing enthusiasts eagerly waited for the fight against Tyson. Lennox, however, dominated the fight using his superior skills and his height advantage to deliver a knockout to Tyson. Retirement In February of 2004, Lewis announced his retirement from the ring to pursue other interests.

At the time of his retirement, he had a record 41 wins, two losses, and one draw under his belt. This achievement has made him of the most popular people in the history of boxing. Leave a Reply

Question: Boxer Lennox Lewis was born in which city?
Answer: London