Heavyweight great Lennox Lewis, who today celebrates his 51st birthday, really did win everything there was worth winning during his amateur and pro career. Born in London in 1965 and relocating to Canada at the age of 12, Lewis achieved the following:
He boxed in two Olympics, 1984 in Los Angeles and 1988 in Seoul, capturing gold in his second Olympic adventure.
Lewis, upon turning pro with Frank Maloney (now Kellie Maloney) soon captured the Commonwealth, the British and the European titles.
Rematch, rematch, rematch! The following fights could have, should have happened, yet for whatever reason they did not materialise. How interesting would these massive fights have been?
Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko II.
The heavyweight rumble the world champion and the future WBC champion put on in June of 2003 was a savagely entertaining affair. The two giants traded hard, potentially knockout blows, for half a dozen fantastically entertaining rounds – only for a definitive conclusion to the war failing to materialise due to the horrific cuts Klitschko had picked up. As such, the fans left the arena desperately craving more.
With the recent sad passing of the great Joe Frazier, and the even more recent – in fact still numbing – passing of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, the world was robbed of two of the finest heavyweight world champions in history. Indeed, Ali and Frazier, who of course gave us THE most fierce and most celebrated rivalry in all of sports, were the king of kings. Ali and Frazier may no longer be with us on this physical plane, but they will live forever.
This distinction, or honour, is one only truly special fighters receive – Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis included. But who are the finest, the greatest, the most special former world heavyweight kings who are still with us? In short, who are the greatest living former heavyweight rulers?
Canelo Alvarez recently decided it was time to relinquish his WBC middleweight title rather than face fellow titleholder Gennady Golovkin in a unification bout. Many fans are outraged over Canelo’s reluctance to face Golovkin. It remains to be seen how this will ultimately impact Alvarez’s career and drawing power. But in the midst of this recent disappointment for boxing fans, many observers are comparing this situation to one that occurred back in the early 1990s when undisputed heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe deposited the heavyweight version of the WBC title into a trash bin rather than face his mandatory Lennox Lewis.
As fight fans are probably aware, it looks like reigning WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder will have to travel to Russia for what most are calling the toughest fight of his entire career – the May 21st date with Alexander Povetkin. Wilder, unbeaten at 36-0, deserves much credit if he does indeed take the already risky (but mandatory) assignment in the hostile, unfamiliar environment of Russia.
After his recent win over the 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) has expressed interest in facing the 43-year-old Vitali Klitschko and now the 50-year-old Lennox Lewis. It’s unclear why Fury wants to take on some of the older heavyweights that once graced the sport of boxing, but it looks like Fury has dialed himself in to fighting the elder statesman in order to possibly get easy paydays.
We’re not exactly seeing Fury chomping at the bit to get at the younger heavyweights that are still in their prime.
Former undisputed heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, has warned Wladimir Klitschko that the ‘clock is ticking’ on him achieving his ambition of bringing the WBC heavyweight title back into the Klitschko family fold.
WBA/WBO/IBF champion, Klitschko, defends his titles against British challenger, Tyson Fury on Saturday night, and should he come through that fight, will eventually be seeking to win the green belt once owned by retired older brother, Vitali, an ambition Lewis says is of crucial importance to his overall legacy.
Heavyweight legend, Lennox Lewis, has offered his two pennies worth regarding next month’s Wladimir Klitschko/Tyson Fury fight, saying that if Fury can’t find answers to the dominant Ukrainian’s ram rod jab, then he’s getting knocked out.
The former undisputed champion clashed with the 6′ 9″ ‘Gypsy Warrior’ last month when the two engaged in a spat over social media that led to the Hall of Fame Inductee and Seoul ’88 gold medalist listing his numerous boxing accomplishments in response to comments from Fury in the media that Lewis was ‘jealous’ and a ‘has been.’
Of course the whole thing came to nothing but the web sites and even the broadsheets went into a mini-frenzy, writing about the then 46-year-old and his chances of pulling off a George Foreman-like comeback. Now, just yesterday, the 48-year-old all-time great and last undisputed heavyweight king made more comeback talk.
Lennox Lewis figures that all British heavyweight David Price (15-2, 13 Ko’s) needs is to have his stamina problem fixed and he’ll be okay after his second straight defeat to 41-year-old Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) last Saturday night at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK.
Thompson stopped an exhausted Price in the 5th round after battering him with a rain of hard shots in the 4th and 5th round until referee had seen enough and stopped the contest.