Lennox Claudius Lewis is a former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003.
He is considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, having won the world heavyweight championship three times and held the undisputed heavyweight title.
Lewis represented Canada as an amateur boxer, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
He turned professional in 1989 and quickly established himself as a dominant force in the heavyweight division, capturing his first world title in 1992.
Early Life And Education
Lennox Claudius Lewis CM CBE was a former professional boxer born September 2, 1965, in West Ham, London, England, United Kingdom. He was the son of Carlton Brooks and Violet Blake and had a sibling named Dennis Lewis.
Lewis attended Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute for high school, where he excelled in various sports, including Canadian football, soccer, and basketball.
During the 1982-83 school year, he helped his school’s AAA basketball team win the Ontario provincial championship. Ethnically, Lewis is of Jamaican descent, and he practiced Christianity as his religion.
Career
Lennox Lewis was a dominant amateur boxer who won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 1983. He represented Canada in the super-heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and was ranked #6 globally.
As a professional, Lewis won several regional heavyweight titles, including the European, British, and Commonwealth. In 1992, he defeated Donovan Ruddock for the #1 position in the WBC rankings.
Later that year, he was declared the WBC heavyweight champion after Riddick Bowe vacated the title. Lewis defended the WBC title thrice before suffering an upset knockout loss to Oliver McCall in 1994. He avenged this loss in a 1997 rematch to regain the vacant WBC title.
In 1999, Lewis became the undisputed heavyweight champion by unifying his WBC title with Holyfield’s WBA and IBF titles. He also won the vacant IBO title.
In the 2000s, Lewis faced some setbacks, including losing his titles when he chose to face other opponents instead of mandatory challengers. However, he avenged an upset knockout loss to Hasim Rahman in 2001.
In 2002, Lewis defeated the highly anticipated Mike Tyson fight. His final fight was a victory over Vitali Klitschko in 2003, after which he retired from boxing in 2004.
After retiring, Lewis worked as a boxing analyst for HBO. He has also been involved in various charitable initiatives through his Lennox Lewis Foundation. In 2018, he participated in a ceremony to announce boxer Jack Johnson’s pardon.
Awards and Nominations
Lennox Lewis has received several prestigious awards throughout his career, including:
Olympic Gold Medal: Super-Heavyweight Division (1988)
BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1999)
Best Boxer ESPY Award: (1999)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE): (2002)
Induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (2009)
Induction into the World Boxing Council Hall of Fame (2008)
Induction into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame (2008)
Personal Life
Lennox Lewis, the renowned British former professional boxer, has been married to Violet Chang since 2005. Their union has been marked by a solid and lasting relationship, even after Lewis retires from the sport.
Lennox and Violet have four children: Landon Lewis, Ling Lewis, Leviah Lewis, and Leya Lewis. Lewis‘s retirement from boxing in 2003 has allowed him to focus on his family life, and he has enthusiastically embraced this new chapter.
Net Worth
Lennox Lewis, the renowned former heavyweight boxing champion, has amassed an estimated net worth of $140 million. This substantial wealth is primarily attributed to his successful and lucrative professional boxing career.
As an active boxer, Lewis earned significant purses and bonuses, including a reported $50 million from his famous fight against Mike Tyson in 2002.
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