Lennox Lewis was never usually one to turn down a challenge in his boxing career.
Lewis joined the paid ranks after capturing a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, and it didn’t take him long to claim world honours, becoming WBC heavyweight champion in 1992 by default after Riddick Bowe refused to face him and forfeited his title.
He lost his title in 1994 in a surprise upset to Oliver McCall, but after re-building with a series of wins, he avenged the defeat to McCall three years later and then became undisputed champion following a victory over Evander Holyfield.
Another shock loss came in 2001 when he was stopped by Hasim Rahman, but Lewis avenged that defeat and then ended his career with back-to-back victories over Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko.
Despite taking on some of those iconic names, Lewis has now revealed that there was one heavyweight legend he refused to face, telling Ring Magazine he didn’t want to take on George Foreman.
“No. I never wanted to fight George. It is a lose-lose situation. If you beat him, like I would have, then you beat an old guy and everyone hates you, because they loved George. And if he beats you, you got beaten by an old guy and you are rubbish.”
Foreman first became world champion in 1973 with a second round knockout win over Joe Frazier, but then lost his titles just over a year later to Muhammad Ali in the iconic ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’
After retiring from the sport, Foreman returned after a decade, and shocked the world in 1994 when he knocked out Michael Moorer to become the oldest world heavyweight champion in history.
‘Big George’ sadly passed away in March 2025 at the age of 76, but will be forever widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
