, nickname Leo, showed quite good results in his professional-level fights. Conquered 41 victories in 44 fights, of which 32 were won by knockout, and only 2 defeats, there was also one draw in a fight against Evander Holyfield. Leo’s fights at the champion and Olympic level, title defenses, all his victories are the result of hard training and a clearly defined goal.
Lewis had many worthy opponents, all of them made a certain contribution and experience to the boxer’s sports life.
It is worth paying attention to the fights of Lennox Lewis with such opponents
- Tony Tucker
- Oliver McCall
- Andrzej Golota
- Evander Holyfield
- Michael Grant
- Francis Botha
- David Tua
- Hasim Rahman
- Mike Tyson
- Vitaliy Klichko
What were the audience waiting for?
Opponent Tony Tucker
The championship fight for the WBC title turned out to be very full of blows. Tucker attacked first, delivering a powerful blow to Lewis’s chin, thereby forcing him to step back, but he was unable to develop further. Over the course of twelve rounds, they exhausted each other with strong blows, and Tucker even managed to be knocked down, but managed to quickly get up. As a result, to the general dissatisfaction of the hall, Lennox won on points, although not very impressive.
Made me cry
After the 3rd round, Oliver didn’t even want to sit down in his corner, he walked back and forth all the time - this was perhaps a kind of hint that he was not at all tired and was ready to continue. But, as it turned out in the fourth round, he was not going to defend himself from the blows by lowering his hands, constantly running from Lennox. Imagine the surprise of Lewis, who was not even sure what to do with the enemy in such a situation. After the 4th round, McCall burst into tears and didn’t want to sit down on a chair, they still forced him, convinced him to continue the fight. In the fifth round, the referee's patience was at its limit and he was forced to stop the fight. Lewis was awarded the victory by technical knockout. The angry crowd escorted Oliver out of the hall by throwing garbage. The champion's fights have never been so "touching">.
Where to run?
Opponent Andrzej Golota
Two standing professional boxers enter the hall to compete for championship title, which already belonged to Lewis. The Polish boxer is constantly warming up, while Lennox shows absolute calm. But as was seen later, the warm-up was unnecessary in the corner of the ring, when Lewis beat him like a pear, as a result of which Golota was knocked down. When he stood up There was rage and a desire for revenge in his eyes, and for some reason he began to run away, but the referee stopped him to continue the fight. Lennox was not taken aback and continued what he started - he knocked out his opponent. Thus, the title remained with the owner - the opponent was knocked out in the first round. Victory!
Controversial Draw
Duel for the title absolute world champion between two worthy opponents. All of Lennox Lewis's previous professional fights brought him many awards, and with a defeat in this fight he could lose everything. Even in the middle of the fight, it seemed that one single accurate hit on the target would knock out a tired Holyfield, but the fight continued to the end. After the twelfth round to general outrage they declared a draw.
Later, another fight was scheduled between these two boxers. Another 12 rounds of intense combat, but now the judges awarded the victory to Lewis. Lennox expresses unbridled joy on his face, and Holyfield surprisingly shows calmness.
Four knockdowns and one knockout
Lennox Lewis – Michael Grant
Lewis Championship Defensive Bout. Bets were placed on Grant's victory - he was a very successful boxer. But right from the first round, Lennox attacked in the same way as in the fight with Golota. According to the results of the first round, Michael was knocked down three times, another time in the second round, and in the end he was completely knocked out by Lewis. At the time the fight was stopped, Lennox also led on points. Lennox Lewis's fights can be very spectacular.
White Buffalo vs Lion
Lewis – Francois Botha
Lennox fought the fight more carefully than usual, and Botha, a boxer nicknamed the White Buffalo, dodged his blows in every possible way, and even tried to attack, which did not quite work. He missed several punches from Lennox in the first round, then almost fell after another fight, but managed to stay on his feet. In the second round, Lennox continued to attack, and in the second minute he landed a series of three punches that knocked Botha down between the ropes, almost outside the ring. The referee counted the knockout, Botha stood up slightly staggering. Lewis won by knockout.
A difficult path to victory
Another difficult fight in 2000. The start of the battle was very fast - Tua openly attacked, and Lewis defended himself with retreats. Lewis missed a strong blow to the head in the second round, but was saved by the signal that sounded immediately to end the round. Despite minor setbacks, this fight, like other Lenox Lewis fights this year, ended in success. Victory on points!
Lewis's defeat
Lennox Lewis – Hasim Rahman
Lennox Lewis' fifth-round knockout defeat was quite spectacular. The moment clearly coincided with the precision of Rahman's strike. Firstly, Lewis did not hold his defense well, and secondly, before that he fell on the ropes and, pushing off from them, came across Hasim’s fist flying straight to the jaw. The champion who fell on the floor of the ring, after the referee's countdown, stood up no longer a champion. With the help of the court, Lennox achieved a rematch, in which he knocked out Hasim with a double blow in the fourth round, regaining his honestly earned titles.
Tyson knocked out
Olympic champion against the world legend they fought in the ring for three championship titles. Tyson behaved perfectly and balanced until Lewis began to break the rules, thereby destroying Mike's patience. After the fifth round, Tyson began to rapidly lose strength and it became difficult for him to maintain defense. The eighth round was decisive - a precise blow to the jaw from Lewis knocked out Iron Mike. He could only console himself with a reward of $35,000,000, since Lennox won. Lennox Lewis fights, of course, all spectacular, but to topple Tyson is worthy of respect.
Victory at the end of a career
Lennox Lewis – Vitali Klitschko
Lewis felt very confident before the fight with Vitaly, almost feeling the taste of victory. But unexpectedly for him, Vitaly put up serious resistance, even almost knocking him down with a blow to the chin. Vitaly is quite a serious and strong opponent, who was ahead of him on points. But the fight was stopped after the sixth round due to severe cut on Vitaly's eyebrows. Lewis was awarded the victory by technical knockout.
After the fight with Vitali Klitschko, Lennox Lewis's fights are history, since a little later he announced his retirement.
In this section you can review all the fights of Lennox Lewis and it is impossible not to notice that a serious face before a fight absolutely accurately reflects his mood, and an unusually kind and positive facial expression in Everyday life– his true good soul.
One of the most famous professional boxers recent years is, whose biography began in 1965, when he was born in West Ham, England. The athlete started in boxing, like the vast majority of successful boxers of our time, in the amateur ring. Lewis competed in the most prestigious, heavy weight category.
Lennox Lewis biography. Amateur boxing
In the biography of Lennox Lewis there are two participations in Olympic Games– in 1984 and 1988. At that moment he represented the Canadian national team. The first attempt ended in failure: the boxer was unable to pass the qualifying round of the competition. But the second time, when Lennox Lewis participated in the Olympics, his biography was decorated with his first serious achievement. True, due to the fact that these Games were boycotted by a very strong Cuban team, this victory did not seem so unconditional at that time. Lewis defeated the American in the final Riddica Bow, with whom fate later confronted him in the professional ring.
Lennox Lewis biography. Professional boxing
The boxer's professional debut occurred in 1988.
- The first serious fight in Lennox’s professional biography took place in 1990. He scored a knockout victory over a former world title challenger Ossie Ocasio.
- In 1992, a tournament of the four strongest professional heavyweights was held. They were divided into pairs: Lewis - Donovan Ruddock and Evander Holyfield - Riddick Bowe. The winners in these pairs were supposed to meet each other in the final match. Lewis's current opponent was already known to him: in 1980, he, whose biography in boxing was just beginning, lost to him in the amateur ring. Now the situation was different: the Boxer proved his convincing superiority, knocking down Ruddock already in the 1st round. After that, he continued what he started in the second round, where the referee stopped the fight after the third knockdown. Thus, Lewis won by technical knockout.
At the final of the tournament, the boxer was waiting for his old acquaintance - Riddick Bowe, winner Evander Holyfield. However, the opponent did not want to tempt fate, because he had already lost to Lewis at the Olympics. Instead, he wanted a rematch with Holyfieldo. As a result, the World Boxing Council, which held the tournament, took away Bow his championship belt, but the fight with Lewis never took place.
Lennox Lewis biography. End of career
The ambiguity of Lewis's last fight has generated a lot of speculation in the sports world. However, Lennox left the ring undefeated and wrote his name in the history of professional boxing.
Lewis Lennox is a famous professional boxer. The British boxer was born in 1965 in Westham. The athlete’s rise began in the amateur ring, like many of his predecessors. Lewis represented boxers in the most prestigious weight category - heavyweight.
Amateur boxing
Lewis Lennox participated in the Olympic Games twice: in 1984 and 1988. At that time, he was part of the Canadian national team, which means he represented this country.
At the first games, Lennox failed to achieve any results: the boxer was unable to even pass the qualifying competitions. But the second time Lewis managed to rehabilitate himself. The boxer managed to achieve a serious achievement in his career. Although many did not consider Lennox’s victory unconditional, because at those games the Cuban team posed a danger. In the final fight, the British boxer managed to defeat Bowe Riddick, a boxer whom fate pitted against Lewis again in the professional ring.
Absolute champion
In the fall of 1992, an open tournament was held in which the world's strongest heavyweights showed their skills. The tournament was held with the aim of awarding the title of absolute champion of his weight.
First, Lewis Lennox easily defeated Radocom Donovan. The second semi-final will be remembered by boxing fans for the Briton's victory over Evander Holyfield. But the famous Riddick Bowe did not express a desire to fight Lennox, for which he paid with his champion belt. It was rare to see such boxing, Lennox Lewis could amaze the judges and spectators.
Dramatic confrontations
Lennox Lewis's fights have always been dramatic. For example, in 1994 he was defeated in a fight with Oliver McCall. But 3 years later, Lennox managed to defeat the same McCall in a rematch and regain the champion title.
Lewis Lennox met in the ring even with such an eminent heavyweight as Mike Tyson in 2002. By the way, he won this fight in the 8th round thanks to a knockout blow. In a fight with Vitali Klitschko (Ukrainian boxer), he won in the 6th round. The fight ended in technical knockout. Klitschko had a severely cut eyebrow.
All boxing fans watched the spectacular fight between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis in 1999. The first fight was a draw, but in the second part Lewis won a spectacular victory and won the title of indestructible champion.
Challenge Klitschko
After his retirement from professional boxing, at one of the press conferences, the British champion told everyone that he was ready to return to the ring for a fight with Klitschko, but did not specify which brother.
In addition, the boxer reported very interesting news. It turns out that during a visit to the Russian capital, he was offered 50 million dollars to fight any of the Klitschko brothers.
But the Briton does not agree to the announced amount; he would be much more satisfied with a reward of 100 million. And it seems that Lewis is not saying this in jest. He said that the Russian side is thinking about the proposal.
The British champion said that he will be ready to fight in six months. The boxer is diligently preparing for this fight.
Personal life of a Briton
In 2002, all American media were full of information that the absolute boxing champion had met his other half and was going to get married. Many said that Lennox wants to connect his life with singer Aisha Max. But the gossip was not destined to come true.
3 years after the fight with Tyson, Lewis married the Jamaican beauty Chang Violet. The couple had 4 charming daughters. The boxer's wife insisted that Lewis end his professional career. The question was acute; the athlete was faced with a choice: either sport or family. Of course, Lennox chose his wife and daughters.
Magazine "BOXING RING" presented the next cycle of the series "The best I've ever met". This time, the great heavyweight champion answered questions about the most dangerous opponents in his career - Lennox Lewis(41-2-1, 32 KO).
The Englishman had his last fight fifteen years ago, defeating his successor, Vitali Klitschko, as a result of injury. Started a great career with gold Olympic medal in Seoul (1988). In the fight for gold, he defeated himself ahead of schedule. As a professional, he met such strong men as Gary Mason, Mike Weaver, Tyrell Biggs, Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno, Ray Mercer, Henry Akinwande, Zeljko Mavrovic, Michael Grant, France Botha, Hasim Rahman, and the named Klitschko. Defeated two greats of his time, that is, Evander Holyfield and. The best “heavyweight” in the history of Poland, painfully, knows about his strength. The Pole was swept out of the ring in October 1997. Lennox avenged two, probably accidental, defeats suffered with one blow “at a time.” In both cases he won, in the second fights. He also repaid Holyfield by unifying the three heavyweight belts.
Better trained: Evander Holyfield
“Very talented boxer. He was considered the best of our time until he met me. The first time he entered the ring, he was too confident in his victory. But in the second he already knew what awaited him. The second fight was more difficult, but I probably won him anyway.”
Best jab: Donovan "Razor" Ruddock
Best in Defense: Evander Holyfield
The strongest jaw: Oliver McCall
“I have no doubts here. Not only a strong jaw, but also an excellent response. He was Tyson's sparring partner for many years."
Fastest hands: Shannon Briggs
“I was surprised how fast his hands are. He could close the distance very quickly and hit powerfully. Sometimes you don’t realize how fast a fighter is until you stand opposite him in the ring.”
Fastest on your feet: Zeljko Mavrovic
Strongest physically: Hasim Rahman
Hard hitting: Shannon Briggs
“He may have lacked stamina, but Briggs certainly knew how to hit well with his body while using his bulk. Unfortunately for him the strong blow was too small to defeat me. Perhaps the audience expected that I would point to McCall or Rahman, but then I simply exposed myself to a knockout. Briggs hits harder."
Smartest in the ring: Vitaliy Klichko
“Supposedly he was a little clumsy, but he could do it and turn it in his favor.”
Best of all: Evander Holyfield
"Evander was the best boxer I've dealt with in my career."
Lennox Lewis is a heavyweight boxer, winner of a gold medal at the XXIV Olympic Games in Seoul, absolute world boxing champion, inducted into the World and International Boxing Halls of Fame. He left boxing undefeated.
Childhood and youth
Lennox was born on September 2, 1965 in West Ham, London. The boy's parents, Carlton Brooks and Violet Lewis, immigrated from the island of Jamaica. Lewis was born as a large baby, weighing 4.8 kilograms. The doctor who delivered the baby named the newborn hero Lennox, and the name stuck with the baby. In 1971, Lewis's parents separated, and 6 years later the boy and his mother Violet moved to Canada, to the city of Kitchener. Lennox has a half-brother, Dennis.
In his new place, Lewis became a student at Cameron Heights High School, where he took up sports. In addition to boxing, the young man participated in team sports: Canadian and European football, basketball, volleyball. But Lennox’s main passion remained working in the ring. Lewis trained persistently for 8 hours and already at the age of 17 became the world junior boxing champion. Thus began the sports biography of Lennox Lewis.
Boxing
In 1984, the young boxer joined the Canadian team at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Then Lewis only reached the quarterfinals, in which he lost to the athlete Biggs. But even this result was assessed by the Canadian Sports Association as a great achievement for the boxer and offered him $750 thousand so that Lennox Lewis would officially enter the country’s professional league. But the young man refused, since his main dream at that time had not yet been realized: Lennox was going to become a gold medalist at the Olympics.
While preparing for the next major competition, which was planned in Seoul, Lewis received silver at the 1985 World Championships and the Pan American Games, and also became a gold medalist at the North American Championships. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Lennox took first place by knocking out opponent Riddick Bowie.
After returning from Korea, Lennox Lewis signs his first professional contract in England. A year later, the boxer becomes the European champion according to the EBU, and a year later - the champion of the British Commonwealth. In 1992, Lennox defeated Razor Ruddock, and a year later the WBC declared Lewis World Champion. Until 1994, Lewis did not know defeat, but the first took place in a fight with Oliver McCall. The rematch took place only in 1997 in Las Vegas, in a re-fight with McCall.
In 1999, an important competition in Lewis’s career took place: the athlete had the chance to become the absolute world boxing champion, winning a fight against Evander Holyfield. The event was covered on television. The March match ended in a draw, so it was necessary to re-match. In November, a fight between Lewis and Holyfield took place, after which Lennox was awarded the victory.
The boxer became the absolute world champion at the age of 34. Now the athlete was required not to lose his regalia. With knockouts and points difference, Lewis one after another defeats opponents Michael Grant, France Botha, David Tua, Andrzej Golota, Lionel Butler. In 2001, Hasim Rahman managed to defeat Lewis, but six months later the latter returned the victory in a repeat competition.
Back in 1996, Lewis offered to fight in the ring, but Tyson avoided the fight, choosing Evander Holyfield as his opponent. In 2002, Lewis had a long-awaited meeting with Mike Tyson, whom Lennox knocked out in the 8th round. Despite the difference in results, both athletes received an equal award of $35 million. The legendary video received 1.7 million views on the Internet.
In 2003, Lennox Lewis thought about retiring. The athlete challenged Kirk Johnson to the last fight, but the opponent dropped out of the game even before the start of the competition due to an injury. He was replaced as a replacement, and the fight with him took place on June 21. The Ukrainian was confidently leading on points, it was clear that Lennox’s shot was no longer the same. But in the 6th round, Lewis inflicted severe damage to Vitaly with a cut to his face. The scar from the wound was still visible in Klitschko’s photo for a long time. A serious injury caused Klitschko's technical defeat. And Lennox Lewis, having retained the title of absolute world champion to the end, left the professional ring forever.
Personal life
In the early 2000s, there were reports in the press that Lennox Lewis had asked singer Aisha Mike to marry him. But the message turned out to be false. In fact, the boxer began courting Miss Jamaica runner-up Violet Chang.
The girl set a condition for the athlete: either she or the ring. Lennox chose family. The wedding took place in 2005. Soon the couple became the happy parents of four children: London, Ling, Leia and Levia Lewis.
Lennox Lewis now
Now Lennox Lewis lives in his own mansion, surrounded by a large family. The athlete regularly works out in his personal gym, maintaining excellent physical shape, and works as an HBO commentator. Lennox did not waste the money he earned in the ring, but wisely invested it in business and real estate.
The former boxer built cottages in Jamaica, Canada and England. Lewis owns the chain health complexes. At the beginning of his professional career, Lennox founded a school in London for children from troubled families.
