Boxer Lennox Lewis retires
WebPosted Fri Feb 6 08:51:37 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE - Lennox Lewis has retired from boxing,
becoming the
first active heavyweight champion to bow out on top in almost 50 years.
Lennox Lewis holds up his WBC heavyweight belt at a Friday news conference
where he announced his retirement from boxing.
Lewis announced the end of his 14-year professional boxing career at a Friday
morning news conference in London. He is the first reigning world heavyweight
champion to quit since Rocky Marciano in 1956. Muhammad Ali retired in 1978
but eventually stepped back into the ring.
"It's a special day in my life," said Lewis. "I'd like to announce that June 21, 2003,
was my last fight as a professional boxer."
Lewis had fought just twice in the past 26 months. He knocked out former
undisputed champion Mike Tyson in June 2002 and stopped the Ukraine's Vitali
Klitschko in June 2003.
Klitschko was ahead on points at the time the fight was stopped due to vicious
cuts on his face. Lewis hasn't fought since.
Kirk Johnson of North Preston, N.S., was supposed to challenge Lewis instead of Klitschko in Los Angeles last June, but Johnson tore his chest muscle in training
and was replaced by the Ukrainian.
"I could never tell a man to retire, but it would be perfect for someone who has accomplished all that he has," Johnson said. "To retire now, at the top, as a
champion, would be the perfect thing to do. It's the way many great champions dream of doing it."
The 38-year-old Lewis was born in Britain but spent most of his youth growing
up in Kitchener, Ont. He won an Olympic gold medal for Canada in the super-
heavyweight division at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Lewis moved back to Britain to fight professionally. His first world heavyweight
title didn't come in a ring but at a press conference. Former WBC champion
Riddick Bowe opted not to fight Lewis and relinquished his crown in dramatic fashion � dropping it into a garbage can at a 1992 news conference.
Lewis finishes his professional career with a 41-2-1 record. His losses came in
shocking upsets to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, but Lewis redeemed
himself by winning rematches against each fighter.
His lone draw came against former champion Evander Holyfield in a fight most
ringside observers felt he won. He went on to beat Holyfield in a return bout to
become the undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Former manager Frank Maloney, who guided Lewis through most of his career,
said a loss to Rahman in South Africa in April 2001 was a sign Lewis was losing
his spark.
"I'm surprised he's gone on this long," Maloney said. "He should have gone after
the Tyson fight because there was nothing else for him to prove then." |
