Lennox Lewis

Lennox Claudius Lewis CM CBE is a former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and remains the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. In 1999 he was named Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America, and BBC Sports Personality of the year. In what would be his final fight, Lewis defeated Vitali Klitschko in a brutal and bloody encounter in 2003.

About Lennox Lewis in brief

Summary Lennox LewisLennox Claudius Lewis CM CBE is a former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and remains the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship. Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division after defeating Riddick Bowe in the final. In 1999 he was named Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America, and BBC Sports Personality of the year. In what would be his final fight, Lewis defeated Vitali Klitschko in a brutal and bloody encounter in 2003. Lewis retired from boxing in 2004 and is regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. BoxRec currently ranks Lewis as the sixth best heavyweight boxer of alltime. Lewis was born on 2 September 1965 in West Ham, London, England to Jamaican parents and according to his mother, he would often fight with other children growing up. At birth he weighed 4. 8 kg, and was given the name Lennox by the doctor, who said he \”looked like a Lennox\” Lewis moved to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada with his mother in 1977 at the age of 12. He attended Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute for high school, where he excelled in Canadian football, soccer and basketball. Lewis became a dominant amateur boxer and won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 1983. He was ranked #6 in the world by the AIBA. Lewis chose not to turn professional after the professional Olympics, and instead fought four more years as an Amateur, winning gold for Canada at the 1986 World Championships.

At the 1987 World Championships he lost in the preliminary round to Petar Stoimenov of Bulgaria. He had a close fight against Cuban Jorge Luis González in August 1987, but avenged the loss shortly thereafter, winning the North American amateur title for the next eight days. After winning his first 21 fights, he defeated Donovan Ruddock in 1992 to take over the number one position in the WBC rankings. He then went on to win several regional heavyweight championships, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles. Despite being 6’5\” tall, and having a very strong punch, his coaches admitted they had to pressure him to convert size and raw talent into aggression. His amateur boxing coaches were Arnie Boehm and Adrian Teodorescu. He won the Commonwealth title in 1988 and the European title in 1989. He also won the Pan American Games super- heavyweight finals in Seoul, South Korea, in 1987. In 1988 he travelled to the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Uruguay to compete in the Pan-American Games. In 1989 he won the European Super-Heavyweight finals for the first time in his professional career. In 1991 he was ranked No. 1 in the World by the boxing magazine, the Ring magazine. In 1992 he was awarded the Ring Magazine heavyweight title, which had been discontinued in the late 1980s. In 1994 he defended the title three times before an upset knockout loss to Oliver McCall.