MOST RECENT NEWS ON TOP
SEPT 23 2004: Lewis vows no comeback!
"I don't think any amount of money will get me back into the ring," former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis told BBC Radio today. "I've accomplished all my goals so I don't really need to go back....I want to be one of three men in history, along with with Rocky Marciano and Gene Tunney, that have stopped at the top and I want to be the first in this era to do that." (Fightnews)
JUNE 25: The July 2004 issue of The Source Magazine has a 2-page article with Lennox Lewis about life after retiring from boxing.
FEB 6: End of an Era (Fightnews)
FEB 4 2004: Report: Lewis to retire!
The BBC Radio Five Live is reporting that WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis is poised to announce his retirement at a press conference in London. Lewis has reportedly called his entire team to London for the Friday morning media event. The 38-year-old champion had been given 30 days by the WBC to arrange a rematch with #1 rated Vitali Klitschko. If no deal was reached, a March 15 purse bid was scheduled. (Fightnews)
OCT 30 2003: Steward: Lennox won't fight again!
It's unlikely WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis will ever return to the ring according to trainer Emanuel Steward. "Lennox won't fight before the new year and almost certainly not after that," Steward told the Daily Express. "Lennox won't fight again - I am as sure of that as I can be. I am not saying he definitely won't go back, but there is very little chance he will return again. Lennox has done all he has to do in the ring. He has won the world title and is the undisputed heavyweight champion in everyone's eyes." Lewis' last fight was in June against Vitali Klitschko. (Fightnews)
OCT 15:
Kirk Ready For Vitali! (Fightnews)
MAY 8: Lewis sues Tyson, King!
Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has filed a $385 million lawsuit against former champ Mike Tyson and promoter Don King. The lawsuit states that Tyson is refusing to honor a contractual commitment for second Lewis-Tyson fight, and that King torpedoed Lewis-Tyson II by allegedly making death threats, tax evasion and bribery. (More to come) (Fightnews)
APRIL 25:
Press Conference: Lewis read all about it!
Press Conference: Johnson read all about it!
(both from Fightnews)
APRIL 24:
Lewis-Johnson not sanctioned by WBC? Read all about it! (Fightnews)
Tickets Lennox Lewis vs Kirk Johnson will go on sale Saturday, May 3, at noon at the Staples Center box office and through all Ticketmaster locations. (Fightnews)
APRIL 21: Kohl on Lennox-Vitali! (excerpt)
By Scott Shaffer
Kohl blamed the champion for not making the match-up Germans and Eastern Europeans have been clamoring for. Here is a transcript of his speech from Friday, with factual information appearing in brackets:
�Vitali is very sad and disappointed the fight with Lennox is not happening. Last September we signed a deal for Lennox and Vitali to fight on December 7. The deal gave Lennox the option to postpone the fight until February- that was in the contract and it was signed. So we made a fight with Larry Donald [in November 2002]. Then on December 15, [Lewis� attorney] Judd Burstein and [Lewis� manager] Adrian Ogun changed their mind and told us the fight would take place in April. Ogun came to Hamburg, Germany and said the deal is done for an April fight between Lennox and Vitali. Then we got a letter saying that Lennox would instead give a direct rematch to Mike Tyson in June. [Tyson declined the rematch].
In my opinion, that is a breach of contract. But I didn�t sue, I tried to negotiate again because it is my dream to have Vitali fight Lennox. [Eventually Vitali sued the WBC, not Lewis and Vitali was confirmed as the WBC�s mandatory challenger]. When Vitali became the mandatory challenger, they made us a much smaller offer for the fight, so I said let�s go by the WBC rules. Lennox had the opportunity to fight Vitali four times: December, February, April and June. Lennox Lewis is a great fighter but he is the one who destroyed the fight against Vitali Klitschko.� (Fightnews)
APRIL 5: After initially balking at a reported $1.4 million offer, heavyweight contender Kirk Johnson says he wants to challenge heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis on June 21. If the bout takes place, it will be the first heavyweight title fight contested between two Canadians. (Fightnews)
APRIL 3: WBC gives Lewis deadline!
The WBC has given heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis until April 15 to decide whether or not to fight Mike Tyson. In the event no decision is made, a 30-day period for free negotiations for the mandatory defense of Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko will begin on April 16.
According to a WBC statement, "due to the fact that our champion Lennox Lewis, was in a voluntary stage and announced a contractual obligations to fight Mike Tyson again, the WBC would approve such title defense by Lewis against Mike Tyson, of USA, but only if such bout takes place by June, with the winner fighting on a mandatory defense against the No. 1 and official challenger Vitali Klitschko, of Ukraine next, otherwise, in compliance of the WBC Rules and Regulations, Lennox Lewis should make his next defense against Vitali Klitschko, who has been appointed as the official challenger." WBC president Jose Sulaiman said, "We are sure that he will behave as usual as a true and authentic champion, fulfilling his obligations according to the requirements of the organization whose beautiful green belt Lewis has conquered and defended with dignity and pride." (Fightnews)
MAR 10: Lewis-Main Events case continues!
By Scott Shaffer
United States District Judge Schira Schiendlin announced on Monday that she will retain jurisdiction over a lawsuit between Lennox Lewis and Main Events. Main Events sought to remove the case from federal court and have it decided in private arbitration, while the world heavyweight champion wanted the case to remain with Judge Scheindlin. The judge sided with Lewis on this issue, meaning the litigation will remain in the federal courthouse in Manhattan, New York. �This is a major setback for Main Events,� said a confident Judd Burstein, Lewis� attorney. �The law is 100 percent in favor of Lennox Lewis on this issue.�
Lewis filed the suit asking for a ruling that the contract he signed with Main Events in 1998 no longer requires him to use Main Events as his co-promoter. Main Events opposes the suit, claiming the contract with Lewis is still valid. Monday�s ruling did not address the ultimate issue of the case, whether Lewis must abide by the contract, but Burstein indicated he is likely to ask Judge Scheindlin to decide the case without a trial, a procedure known as summary judgment. (Fightnews)
FEB 2: Bowe Quote from The Washington Post: "You tell [Lewis] to hold onto my title. Give me a year or so to get where I need to be and we'll lock heads. We can have a rematch of the Olympics. Put that gold medal up. Put the title up. Put it all on the line. That's what I'd love to do.
"Then they can go back in the history books, take his name out of the Olympics and put my name in there once I knock him out, because I don't see the fight going the distance. Give me eight rounds with that clown and he'll be done."
Click Here for the rest of this article.
JAN 29: Tyson: I'll crush his head!
Iron Mike Tyson may be facing Clifford Etienne on February 22, but his mind is also on a rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. "I might have kissed him after our first fight, but I'll crush his head when we're next in the ring," said Mike Tyson yesterday to Sky Sports. "Everyone knows I didn't train properly first time. I believed all I had to do was hit him with one shot and knock him out. I paid for that." Lewis has inked a deal with HBO to tentatively fight on June 21. Tyson is confident he will be the other fighter in the ring that night. "He will fight me, because it's all about money - and I'm still box office." (Fightnews)
JAN 22: Bowe planning comeback?
Jimmie Lawson (CEO for Split Decision Entertainment) and Jimmy Adams visited former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe last Sunday at Bowe's Maryland home to discuss Bowe's return to the boxing ring after his time is served from his 18 month sentencing. Adams who has guided Oliver McCall's rocky career in and out of jail for 12 years said, "Bowe is 34-years-old and after his time is behind him, I know Bowe will become three-time world champion...In our meeting and talks with Bowe, things are looking really good. At this point I think we are all on track to working out a fair deal between all parties involved." (Fightnews)
NOTE: If Bowe returns to the ring, expect Lennox to demand settling some unfinished business!
JAN 21: Klitschko Confirms April 12 for Lewis Fight
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian heavyweight Vitali Klitschko has confirmed he will fight Britain's world champion Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas on April 12. Klitschko, 31, told a chat show on Monday that all contracts for the bout had been signed. He added he would send Lewis into early retirement then take on former champions Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. "They are also not the same as they used to be in the 90s," he said.
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