Lewis took Rahman to court to honour the rematch clause in their contract. Soon the couple became happy parents of four children: Landon, Ling, Leya and Leviah Lewis. He returned to England and spent time living with his extended family then when he was twelve years old, Lennox returned to his mother in Canada and was raised there.

At his retirement, Lewis's record was 41 wins, two losses and one draw, with 32 wins by knockout. The win over Ruddock made Lewis the mandatory challenger for Riddick Bowe's heavyweight championship. He also has his charity, The Lennox League of Champions Foundation which focuses on inspiring youth to achieve success in life. Lennox Claudius Lewis was born on September 2, 1965 in West Ham, London, United Kingdom. 1 contender. In 2016 his picture was permanently embedded into the WBC Heavyweight championship belt. He is known for his calculated fighting style and grace in the ring. In 2001, Lewis became the fourth boxer (after Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer) to have held the world heavyweight championship on three occasions. Lewis entered the ring at a career high 116 kg (256½ pounds).

I just wanted to go out there and prove it by knocking him out. 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. Two fights against Evander Holyfield in 1999 (the first ending in a controversial draw) saw Lewis become undisputed heavyweight champion by unifying his WBC title with Holyfield's WBA and IBF titles, as well as the vacant IBO title. Lewis had planned to fight him in December, but since Klitschko had been on the undercard of the Johnson fight anyway, they agreed to square off on 21 June.

He successfully defended his WBC, IBO and IBF titles against Grant with a second-round knockout victory in Madison Square Garden in April 2000. At the 1986 World Championships, he lost in the preliminary round to Petar Stoimenov of Bulgaria. Known for his physical strength, Lewis was able to manoeuvre opponents into punching range and was especially effective against taller opponents.

Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. I didn't think so at all. [22] Of all losses on the record, Valeriy Abadzhyan of the Soviet Union was the only opponent to stop Lewis in amateurs, in October 1986. [13] His amateur boxing coaches were Arnie Boehm and Adrian Teodorescu. In his first three years as a professional, Lewis won several regional heavyweight championships, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles. He was undefeated in his first 22 professional fights and earned a title bout with Bowe, who had become the heavyweight champion. [61] Prior to the offer Lewis was familiar with wrestling; he was part of the famous match held in the old Wembley Stadium between The British Bulldog and Bret "The Hitman" Hart for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam in 1992, representing the Bulldog during his entrance while bearing a Union Flag. Lewis was born to Jamaican parents, spent his early childhood in England, and then moved with his mother to Canada. Need to order a prescription? English professional boxer Lennox Lewis was born to Jamaican parents, Violet Lewis and Carlton Brooks, in the East End of London, England on the 2 September 1965. [60], In 2000, Lewis appeared on Reflection Eternal's debut album Train of Thought, giving a shout out on the track "Down for the Count.". In October of 1992, he won the World Boxing Council belt after knocking out tough Canadian boxer, Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in just two rounds. He is also, along with Gene Tunney, Marciano and Vitali Klitschko, one of four heavyweight champions to have ended his career as world champion, and with a world title fight victory in his final fight. He was born to Jamaican-born parents.

[59] He was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. At the 1988 Summer Olympics Games, he again made the Canadian team and won a gold medal in the SuperHeavyweight division. As newly recrowned WBC champion, Lewis successfully defended the title in 1997 against fellow Briton and former WBO world champion Henry Akinwande, who was disqualified after five rounds for excessive clinching. In June 2009, Lewis was also inducted in his first year of eligibility into the revered International Boxing Hall of Fame.

While struggling to achieve popularity and respect earlier in his professional career, Lewis's standing has increased since his retirement in 2003, and he is now considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. English professional boxer Lennox Lewis was born to Jamaican parents, Violet Lewis and Carlton Brooks, in the East End of London, England on the 2 September 1965.His biological father was not involved in his upbringing, and when Lennox was nine years old, he moved to Canada with his mother. Taking up boxing, he became World Junior Champion at 17 and represented (1984, 1988) Canada in Olympics, winning the heavyweight gold against Riddick Bowe in 1988. The gate was US $2,523,384 from an attendance of 15,939 at the Staples Center in California. In 2008, Lewis commented on a possible match up with Riddick Bowe. After winning his first 21 fights, he defeated Donovan Ruddock in 1992 to take over the number one position in the WBC rankings. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lennox-Lewis, The Canadian Encyclopedia - Biography of Lennox Lewis. In the Games' closing ceremony, Lewis was Canada's flag bearer. For the next few years Lewis won all his fights and worked to secure another championship fight.

Lewis said he would not return to the ring. ", After the fight, Lewis decided he needed a new trainer to replace Pepe Correa, who had become increasingly difficult to work with. Lewis and his family moved to Kitchener, Ontario, when he was 12 years old and developing as a young man. [30] On 14 December 1992, the WBC declared Lewis its champion, making him the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century. Need to order a prescription? Lewis was therefore to be stripped of his WBA belt if he fought Grant first. Lewis knocked Tyson out in the eighth round. Lennox Claudius Lewis was born on 2 September 1965, in West Ham, London England of Jamaican parents, who moved to Canada when he was 12. If he had to move his head to see me, there was no way he could defend his way against a punch. I'll beat him up for free. Lewis is the only British heavyweight to have won both a Lonsdale belt outright and the world title.

After disruptive behavior at school in Canada, a teacher advised Lewis to channel his strength and energy into sport. He had a close fight against Cuban Jorge Luis González at the 1987 Pan American Games super-heavyweight finals: the American judge scored the bout in favour of Lewis 60–57, while the judges from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Uruguay scored the bout 59–58 for González. Lewis was a pupil at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute. Updates? BoxRec currently ranks Lewis as the sixth best heavyweight boxer of all time. [11] At age 18, Lewis represented Canada in the super-heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 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. [32] In spite of the Lewis camp protests, Boxing Monthly editor Glynn Leach pointed out that Lewis "only seemed to recover his senses once the fight was waved off", and that "in the opinions of everyone I spoke to at ringside, the decision was correct.

We went at it. In the second round, McCall landed a powerful right cross, putting Lewis on his back. Lewis and his family moved to Kitchener, Ontario, when he was 12 years old and developing as a young man. In the 1…

Lewis defended the belt three times, defeating Tony Tucker, whom he knocked down for the first time in Tucker's career, and Frank Bruno and Phil Jackson by knockout. Lewis decided to go pro following his Olympic victory and returned to his native country of England. In the fall of 2002, Lewis relinquished the IBF portion of his heavyweight title. Lewis was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999 and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002. A lively and informative new podcast for kids that the whole family will enjoy! Which Academy Award-winning film documents the “Rumble in the Jungle,” in which Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire? He was sent to another approved school for trouble makers and was again expelled for fighting. (Lennox Claudis Lewis), 1965–, British-Canadian boxer. [20], Lewis, upon turning professional, registered an amateur record of 85–9. [45] Both fighters were guaranteed US $17.5 million. He is famous for being a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and he remains the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed heavyweight title. By that time he was ranked #6 in the world by the AIBA. In 1988 at the Seoul Olympics, he did as he said he would and brought home the Gold medal to Canada in the SuperHeavyweight division. Lewis avenged the loss in a 1997 rematch to win back the vacant WBC title. Lewis played in the World Series of Poker in both 2006 and 2007, and was knocked out without winning any money.

He defended the title three times before an upset knockout loss to Oliver McCall in 1994. It is known that during his birth he actually weighed 4.8 kg, and he was offered a name, i.e. "I will come out of retirement to beat up that guy.

In 2003, The Ring ranked Lewis 33rd in their list of greatest punchers of all time. After much legal and business wrangling, a bout with Tyson was finally set for June 8, 2002, in Memphis, Tennessee. He is 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) tall, with an 84 in (213 cm) reach, and weighed about 245 lb (111 kg) during his boxing prime. [21] HBO Boxing credited him with a shorter amateur record of 75 wins (58 by knockout) and 7 losses. Lennox Lewis was born on 2 September 1965, in West Ham, London, England, to Jamaican parents. Consequently, in 1977, at the age of 12, Lewis immigrated to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada to be with his mother. Biography. Lewis appeared on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice in 2008. Lewis fought a tactical fight, keeping Holyfield off balance with a long jab and peppering him with combinations almost at will. A unification bout in March 1999 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden against American Evander Holyfield, who held the heavyweight titles of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) ended in a controversial draw. Lennox Lewis with his wife. Without his mother’s presence, he became harder to control and as a result he was sent to a reform school in London for troublemakers where he was expelled for fighting. It is estimated that this boxer has a personal net worth of $140 million. Tyson also had to pay Lewis $335,000 out of his purse for biting him at the news conference announcing the fight, which was originally scheduled for 6 April 2002 in Las Vegas. Struggling to win the affection of the British public and facing indifference from an American audience, Lewis's body of work eventually established him as the dominant heavyweight of his time. And the following year, he beat Gary Mason and became the British Heavyweight Champion. When he was 18 years old, he represented Canada as a super heavyweight at the 1984 Summer Olympics, which was held in Los Angeles. He then began crying in the ring, forcing the referee to stop the fight and award Lewis the victory and the title. The CBE is an esteemed honor for a British citizen, just one rank below knighthood. Lewis also out-jabbed Holyfield 137 to 52. In 1988 his adopted home of Canada awarded him a CM – Member of the Order of Canada. 1 contender and former WBO champion. Prior to the event, Lewis was awarded the Ring magazine heavyweight title, which had been discontinued in the late 1980s. Lennox Lewis is one of three boxers in history who have achieved the distinction of winning the Heavyweight Championship three times.