After a long amateur career that included a gold medal winning performance in the 1988 Seoul Olympics that came in the form of a KO of 'Riddick Bowe' (who also went on to win the world heavyweight crown), former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis turned professional in 1989. Lewis successfully defended the title during his forthcoming fights against the likes of Shannon Briggs, Henry Akinwande, and Zeljko Mavrovi. Lewis was a hometown hero back then and one of the most brutal heavyweight kingpins of the time. Lewis entered the ring at a career high 116kg (256.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12 pounds). In 1999, he faced WBA and IBF title holder Evander Holyfield in New York City but the session was declared a draw. The Lewis/Tyson 2002 fight was the highest grossing pay-per-view professional boxing fight for five years. [10] He became a dominant amateur boxer and won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 1983. These 10 Whopping Homes & Cars Of Celebrities Look Amazing! It was Lewis's most impressive win to date and established him as one of the world's best heavyweights. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. While promoting the rematch with Rahman on ESPN's Up Close, the fighters got into a brawl[43] similar to the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in front of Howard Cosell on Wide World of Sports. During one of the most controversial fights of his career, Lewis got into a brawl with his opponent Hasim Rahman. When he was of age 18, he has signified Canada within super-heavyweight section during the year 1984 Summer Olympics inside Los Angeles. After the fight, George Foreman declared, "He [Lewis] is, no doubt, the best heavyweight of all time. Lewis accepted $4 million from Don King to step aside and allow Tyson to fight Bruce Seldon instead, with a guarantee that if Tyson defeated Seldon, he would fight Lewis next. "[28] In 2015 Lewis explained "When I turned pro, I had to go to the United Kingdom in order to pursue my career. Hamilton web design & Development by - Massive Web Design. [30] On 14 December 1992, the WBC declared Lewis its champion, making him the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century. [46] Lewis was dominated in the early rounds and was wobbled in round two by solid Klitschko punches. In his first three years as a professional, Lewis won several regional heavyweight championships, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles. [3][4], Lewis was born on 2 September 1965 in West Ham, London, to Jamaican parents and according to his mother, he would often fight with other children growing up. Lewis signed with boxing promoter Frank Maloney and his early professional career was filled with knockouts of journeymen, as well as fighters such as Osvaldo Ocasio. Tags - Advertisement - Jones had the first laugh AND the last one. He compiled a career record of 41-2-1 and won gold in the super heavyweight class at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He is a major contributor to the Muhammad Ali Center and is a current ambassador for the global based sports charity, Laureus. Tyson, who has since said he doesnt like the man he once was, used that aura in the build-up to his eventual 2002 fight with champion Lewis. He was awarded the C.M. Im Jack Dempsey. This cool friendly talented boxer originating from West Ham, London, England has a athletic body & round face type. No, Im Alexander. During this period, he defeated former WBA champion Mike Weaver. Instead of trying to be the best fighter in the world, my goals now are to be the best father I can be, the best husband I can be, and to make a difference in the lives of some of the less fortunate people in the world.". His Jamaican mother, Violet, moved her son to Canada at the age of nine. These (offers) coming to me after the Olympics are mainly because I won the gold. In 2002 he was honored by his birth country of England when Queen Elizabeth II awarded him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Hes no Alexander. Klitschko's face required sixty stitches.[48][49][50]. Lewis played in the World Series of Poker in both 2006 and 2007, and was knocked out without winning any money. Im the most brutal and vicious and ruthless champions thats ever been. Although three fighters have since repeated this feat (Herbie Hide, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua), only Lewis also won the Lonsdale belt outright. Brit star Lennox Lewis had knocked out Mike Tyson back in their original clash in 2000. Interviewed about the fight by HBO, doctor Paul Wallace explained his decision: When he raised his head up, his upper eyelid covered his field of vision. Caught Smoking: These Are The 60 Most Shocking Celebrity Smokers, These 50 Celebrity Tattoos Went Horribly Wrong, The Virgo with shirtless athletic body on the beach, Top 60 Celebrities Without Makeup (Before & After), 40 Whopping Homes & Cars Of Celebrities That Will Amaze You, Top 55 of Worlds Richest Actors Current Net Worth, Top 60 Craziest Tattoos Of Celebrities in 2023, Top 15 Highest-Paid Soccer Players Of All-Time Revealed (2023). Lewis took Rahman to court to honour the rematch clause in their contract. My style is impetuous. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). "PLUS: TV SPORTS; LEWIS-TUA ATTRACTS 420,000 BUYERS", "Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis (2nd meeting)", "Satellites keep shining stars from our gaze", Olympic boxing champions men's super heavyweight, Commonwealth Games Boxing Champions in Men's Super Heavyweight, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lennox_Lewis&oldid=1141353848, BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners, British Boxing Board of Control champions, Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada, English expatriate sportspeople in Canada, International Boxing Federation champions, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees, Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada, Participants in American reality television series, Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from July 2022, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, BLP articles lacking sources from July 2017, BLP articles lacking sources from March 2019, Pages with login required references or sources, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lost to H. Thompson (Canada) by split decision, 23, Defeated K. Hataway (Canada) by unanimous decision, 30, Defeated D. Walls (Canada) by unanimous decision, 30, Defeated Barry Forbes (Canada) by majority decision, 41, Defeated I. Lewis (Canada) by unanimous decision, 30, Defeated M. Rome (Canada) by unanimous decision, 30, Defeated J. Valleyfield (United States) by unanimous decision, 30, Finals: Defeated Claude Courchesne (Canada) RSCH 1, Defeated Larry Evans (Canada) by decision, 1/4: Defeated Vincent Jones (United States) by unanimous decision, 50, 1/2: Defeated Durin Rcaru (Romania) by unanimous decision, 50, Finals: Defeated Pedro Quesada (Cuba) by walkover, Defeated Jouni Kopola (Finland) by walkover, Defeated Bengt Cederquist (Sweden) by unanimous decision, 50, Defeated D. Mills (Canada) by unanimous decision, 30, 1/4: Defeated Don Stevenson (Canada) RSCH 1, 1/2: Defeated Barry Forbes (Canada) by unanimous decision, 50, Finals: Defeated Vernon Linklater (Canada) by unanimous decision, 50, Defeated Vernon Linklater (Canada) by walkover, Finals: Defeated Brian Lansing (Canada) RSCH 1, Defeated R. Garrison (United States) RSC 2, Finals: Defeated Milan Turek (Czech Republic) RET 1, 1/2: Defeated Kimmuel Odum (United States) by decision, 1/2: Defeated Juan Antonio Daz Nieves (Argentina) RET 1, Finals: Lost to Vyacheslav Yakovlev (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 05, Defeated A. At his retirement, Lewis's record was 41 wins, two losses and one draw, with 32 wins by knockout. Tyson had just beaten Lou Savarese in 38 seconds in 2000 when he produced the infamous line to Showtime's Jim Gray. [18] He avenged the loss shortly thereafter, boxing for the North American amateur title eight days later. What he's done clearly puts him on top of the heap. However, his football team lost their championship game and while he was disappointed for the loss he decided that there was more to come. Apart from the C.M., this former heavyweight champion was also awarded the M.B.E (Member of the Order of the British Empire) and the C.B.E (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to the sport of boxing. His place of birth, along with his early childhood, the country where he became a man and his Jamaican ancestry, are very much intertwined into the fabric of the man he is today. "[24], Having achieved his goal, Lewis declared himself a professional and moved back to his native England. 57 Year Old Virgo #20. He was undefeated in his first 22 professional fights and earned a title bout with Bowe, who had become the heavyweight champion. Asked in particular about the infamous quote aimed at heavyweight rival Lennox Lewis in which he claimed he would 'eat his children', he said people had to believe he would do something as. In his first comeback fight, Lewis was given a chance to fight for the mandatory challenger position within the WBC and won it by knocking out American contender Lionel Butler. If you do not know, We have prepared this article about details of Lennox Lewiss short biography-wiki, career, professional life, personal life, todays net worth, age, height, weight, and more facts. Lennox, 40, and Violet, 28, have been together for six years and were married in July 2005. Lewis and Tyson finally met in 2002, and Lewis knocked out Tyson in the 8th round.. Renowned trainer Emanuel Steward, who had been McCall's trainer during their fight, was Lewis's choice. At the time of his birth, he weighed around 10 pounds, to which the doctor remarked that he looked like a Lennox!. Lennox by the doctor, the person who said he appeared similar to Lennox. Referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia felt Lewis was unable to continue and ended the fight, giving McCall the title by technical knockout. The same year, he knocked out Francois Botha and David Tua. ", Lennox Lewis on his two fights versus Jorge Luis Gonzlez in August 1987[16], Lewis chose not to turn professional after the Olympics, and instead fought four more years as an amateur, hoping for a second chance to win a gold medal. Lewis has won the lineal title through winning against Shannon Briggs during the year 1998. Theres never been anybody as ruthless. Lewis said he would not return to the ring. (Member of The Order of The . Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [34] After winning the WBA title from Seldon, Tyson relinquished the WBC title to fight Evander Holyfield instead. My defense is impregnable, and Im just ferocious. [52] Instead, Klitschko fought and defeated Kirk Johnson on 6 December in WBC Eliminator, setting up a mandatory rematch with Lewis. At the age of 12, he moved to Kitchener, Ontario, in 1977 and attended the Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute. He discovered his true passion for sports while playing football and basketball in school. In April 2000 Lewis was stripped of the WBA portion of his title after a legal dispute with the promoter Don King prevented a timely defense of his title against an acceptable opponent. ", After the fight, Lewis decided he needed a new trainer to replace Pepe Correa, who had become increasingly difficult to work with. Theres no one who can stop me. Upon retiring from boxing, Lewis moved to Miami Beach with his wife, Violet Chang, a former Miss Jamaica runner-up. Lewis eventually developed into one of the most complete heavyweights in history: able to box at range or fight aggressively when necessary, as well as being considered one of the hardest punchers of all time. Just ferocious year 1984 Summer Olympics inside Los Angeles & Development by - Massive design. In school current ambassador for the global based sports charity, Laureus got... 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