Newz Forum: PFL:BOXING: Lennox Lewis Sportznewz Boxing Profile, page 1

Lennox Claudius Lewis born September 2, 1965 in West Ham,London,England is a British former boxer,who represented Canada in the Olympics and was widely regarded as the world's best current heavyweight boxing champion from 1999 until he announced his retirement on February 6, 2004.With such an imperious Roman ring to his name, the writing was on the wall.

Lennox moved to Canada at the formative age of 12 and took up the art of pugilism where Arnie Boehm his coach, friend and father figure overlooked his amateur career of 95-9 (52 by stoppage). He always avenged his defeats when presented with the opportunity.At High School, Lennox excelled at many sports including basketball, volleyball, track and field, American football, soccer and of course boxing.

Tale of the Tape

Age 37
Height 6' 5"
Weight 247 lbs
Reach 84"
Neck 18.5"
Wrist 8"
Calf 18"
Ankle 11"
Chest/Normal 44"
Chest/Exp 46"
Waist 34"
Biceps 17"
Fist 12"
Forearm 15"

Lennox is a diligent vigorous trainer of the sweet science of boxing and big things started with his first gold medal win at the World Junior Championship in 1983 and in 1984 won silver medal at the Olympics. A tremendous athlete, he rejected the financial temptations to ascend to gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.Turning professional in 1989, he went on to win the European title in 1990 against Jean Chanet and followed this up with the British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship in 1992 against Derek Williams.Lennox Lewis holds his trophy after winning Boxing award at the 2000 World Sports Awards ceremony at The Royal Albert Hall, London

On October 31, 1992, Lewis knocked out Canada's Donovan Ruddock for the No. 1 contender's position in the WBC world rankings. But ultimately, the victory won Lewis even more than that. After Bowe, who had become world heavyweight champion by upsetting Evander Holyfield, refused to fight Lewis, his WBC title was declared vacant. On January 14, 1993, the WBC declared Lewis its champion. He thus became the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century.Lewis successfully defended the belt three times before he was upset by Oliver McCall on September 24, 1994. He quickly moved back to the No. 1 contender's slot in the WBC rankings, but agreed to give up the spot in exchange for a multi-million dollar payoff by promoter Don King, who wanted his fighter, Mike Tyson to receive a title shot.Tyson later returned the favor and relinquished the WBC title, leaving it vacant for Lewis and McCall to square off on February 7, 1997 in Las Vegas. In one of the most bizarre fights ever seen, McCall refused to fight in the fourth and fifth rounds, eventually forcing the referee to stop the fight and award Lewis the victory.

On March 28, 1998, Lewis retained the WBC world title when he knocked out Shannon Briggs in five rounds. Now only one goal eluded him,to become the unified world champion.He believed he had achieved that feat on March 13, 1999, when he faced WBA and IBF titlist Holyfield in New York City. Despite the fact most boxing experts believed Lewis won easily, the fight was declared a draw. But exactly eight months later in Las Vegas, the two men fought again and Lewis won a close, but unanimous decision.Later in 1999, Lewis became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Lewis later dropped the WBA and IBF titles in disputes, but continued to be widely recognized as the world's true heavyweight champion. He successfully defended his title three times before he was knocked out by 14-to-1 underdog Hasim Rahman on April 22, 2001. But he regained the title on November 17 by returning the favor and knocking out Rahman.On June 8, 2002, Lewis defended his title against Tyson, winning on am eighth-round knockout.In May of 2003, Lewis sued King for the amount of $385 million dollars, claiming that King used threats to have Tyson pull out of a rematch scheduled Lewis for a month later. Lewis then scheduled a fight with Kirk Johnson for the championship belt of the less-recognized IBO, but dropped it when Johnson suffered an injury in training. Instead, Lewis fought Vitali Klitschko, the WBC's No. 1 contender and former WBO titlist. 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 looked rusty after a year's layoff, and was trailing on all three scorecards after six rounds. However, Lewis had been able to open up a severe cut above Klitschko's left eye. The ringside doctor stopped the fight before round seven and awarded Lewis the win by TKO.

Some Career Highlights

1988 Represented Canada at the Olympics, stopping Riddick Bowe to win the super heavyweight gold medal.

1989 (June) Turned pro.

1990 (October) Annexed the European heavyweight title.

1992 (April) Captured the Commonwealth title.Gave up the European belt after 3 successful defenses Was awarded the WBC title after Bowe threw the belt in the trash can rather than face Lewis.

1994 Lost the WBC title in September against Oliver McCall, his only lost fight to date in his professional heavyweight boxing career.

1997 Regained the WBC title in February.

1999 (13 November) For the first time in over a 100 years the one and only undisputed heavyweight champion of the world resides in Great Britain, and for the first time since 1992, the heavyweight title is unified by Lennox Lewis.

2001 (21 April) Hasim Rahman shocked the world with a stunning knockout over Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis, in what will go down as one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

2001 (17 Nov) Regained WBC, IBF, IBO belts by avenging his defeat with Hasim Has-been Rahman in emphatic style becoming Three-time Heavyweight Champion.

2002 (June 8) Retained WBC, IBO titles with an eighth round KO of Iron Mike Tyson after an initial setback of the fight. His legacy was truly sealed.

Lennox Lewis has taken the sport, the title, back to a world of elegance and sportsmanship that old fashioned world that he understands quite well. It's all about respect. He is a beautiful champion. The question about Lewis being boring is very subjective of course. Again it is true that for example his fight against David Tua was dull, but that hardly was Lewis fault. He used his strengths, longer reach, better technique and movement to easily outbox his foe. Had he fought Tua toe-to-toe, sure the fight could have been more interesting, but he had no reason to do so. Winning is what counts, and Lewis did win impressively. If a fighter gets out of his best tactics because he wants to look good, he is not courageous but dumb. Furthermore it must be noted that Lewis KO percentage is one of the best in the division, so obviously something has happened in his fights now and then.Lewis stats are indeed highly impressive. Lewis is one of the very few heavyweight champions who has defeated every opponent he has ever faced. Only Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson can boast with the same achievement if we take on account Riddick Bowe's NC against Buster Mathis Jr. Lewis has had 18 championship fights, with which he ranks behind only Joe Louis, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali. He has also been among the best five of the division for well over a decade. His final ring record, 41-2-1 (32), is among the finest ever, as is his record from the title fights, 16-2 (11). These facts can not be disputed.

Lewis decision to retire before giving Vitaly Klitschko a rerun might have left a bad taste for some, but it must be noted again that Lewis is already 38 years of age. Only George Foreman has ever defended his heavyweight title being older than Lewis would be in the rematch. Already now Lewis is the third oldest fighter to successfully defend his title, behind only Foreman and Jersey Joe Walcott. Moreover, although the fight was a hard one, he did win it so there shouldn't be any dispute about his decision. If Lewis has the determination to keep his head and stay retired, all the better. He has nothing more to achieve and nothing more prove.

[Edited on 19/3/04 by TRD]

[Edited on 18-7-2004 by Ocelot]