Lennox Lewis had a long and legendary career in the heavyweight division.
‘The Lion’ ended his amateur career with a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics before turning over in 1989.
He won all 21 of his first fights and then became WBC number one after a win over Donovan “Razor” Ruddock in 1992, which later saw him elevated to full champion after Riddick Bowe infamously gave up the title rather than fight him for it.
He went on to fight legends of the sport like Evander Holyfield, who he beat in 1999 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, and also bested the likes of Frank Bruno, Mike Tyson and avenged his two upset knockout losses to Oliver McCall and Hashim Rahman with KO victories later down the line.
In his brutal final fight, Lewis stopped late stand-in Vitali Klitschko after six rounds in 2003 due to severe cuts suffered by the Ukrainian. Many had Klitschko up on the scorecards when it was called off.
Speaking on X Lewis admitted that he ‘seriously’ considered a rematch with Klitschko before deciding to hang up the gloves for good.
“Let me clear this up for you. Vitali was ALWAYS supposed to be my last fight but it got moved up. I took it on 10 days notice. No champ has ever taken on a #1 contender on such short notice. I looked forward to moment of starting a family and no more camps. I seriously considered a rematch, but in the end, decided to go with the original plan. Vitali went on to be a great champion in his own right. I also knew that Father Time was not in MY corner.”
History shows it was a sensible move. He retired as a unified champion, having beaten every man he faced and remains one of the greatest of the modern era.
