Lennox Lewis biography
Lennox Lewis, in full Lennox Claudius Lewis, (born September 2, 1965, London, England), first British boxer to carry the undisputed heavyweight world championship since Bob Fitzsimmons held the title in 1899.
Lewis was born to Jamaican dad and mom, spent his early childhood in England, after which moved together with his mom to Canada. An all-around athlete in highschool, he excelled in a number of sports activities however quickly centered on boxing and developed into one among Canada’s finest novice fighters. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Lewis beat American Riddick Bowe to earn the gold medal within the superheavyweight division.
Lewis returned to his native England in 1989 to pursue knowledgeable profession. He was undefeated in his first 22 skilled fights and earned a title bout with Bowe, who had turn out to be the heavyweight champion. The 6-foot 5-inch (1.96-metre), 230-pound (104.3-kg) Lewis was exceptionally massive for a boxer, and his measurement posed particular issues for the common heavyweight. Not surprisingly, Bowe and his supervisor selected to pursue profitable fights towards simpler opponents. The World Boxing Council (WBC) stripped Bowe of his title and awarded it to Lewis, who defended the title thrice earlier than dropping in an upset to American Oliver McCall in London in September 1994.
For the following few years Lewis received all his fights and labored to safe one other championship struggle. In 1997 American boxer Mike Tyson held the WBC heavyweight title however was unwilling to face the a lot taller Lewis. When a court docket order demanded that Tyson defend his crown towards Lewis, he surrendered the title. On February 7, 1997, Lewis once more confronted McCall for the vacant WBC crown and received by technical knockout within the fifth spherical after McCall refused to struggle. A unification bout in March 1999 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden towards American Evander Holyfield, who held the heavyweight titles of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) led to a controversial draw. The November rematch in Las Vegas, Nevada, was one other carefully scored struggle, however Lewis landed extra punches and emerged, lastly, because the undisputed champion of the heavyweight division.
In April 2000 Lewis was stripped of the WBA portion of his title after a authorized dispute with the promoter Don King prevented a well timed protection of his title towards a suitable opponent. That similar yr Lewis went on to defeat Michael Grant, Franz Botha, and David Tua to retain his IBF and WBC heavyweight titles. In a shocking end result in April 2001, Lewis misplaced to underdog Hasim Rahman in a fifth-round knockout. In the November rematch Lewis reclaimed his title from Rahman, knocking him out within the fourth spherical. After a lot authorized and enterprise wrangling, a bout with Tyson was lastly set for June 8, 2002, in Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis knocked Tyson out within the eighth spherical. In the autumn of 2002, Lewis relinquished the IBF portion of his heavyweight title. While nonetheless acknowledged because the professional heavyweight world champion, Lewis introduced his retirement in 2004 with a document of 41 wins (32 by knockout), 2 losses, and 1 draw.