Lennox Lewis

Lennox Claudius Lewis CM CBE (born 2 September 1965) is a British-Canadian boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1989 to 2003. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, and held the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, winning the super-heavyweight gold medal in 1988. Lewis is regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, and one of the greatest British boxers of all time.

In his first three years as a professional, Lewis won several regional heavyweight championships, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles. After winning his first 21 fights, he defeated Donovan Ruddock in 1992 to take over the number one position in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings. He was declared WBC heavyweight champion later that year after Riddick Bowe gave up the title, refusing to defend it against Lewis. He defended the title three times before an upset knockout loss to Oliver McCall in 1994. Lewis avenged the loss in a 1997 rematch to regain the vacant WBC title.

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 World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles. In 2000, the WBA stripped Lewis of his title when he chose to face Michael Grant instead of mandatory challenger John Ruiz. Similarly, the IBF stripped Lewis of their title in 2002 when he chose not to face their mandatory challenger Chris Byrd.

Lewis was knocked out by Hasim Rahman in an upset in 2001, but this defeat was avenged later in the year, with Lewis regaining the WBC and IBF titles. In 2002, Lewis defeated Mike Tyson in one of the most highly anticipated fights in boxing history. Prior to the event, Lewis was awarded the Ring magazine heavyweight title, which had been discontinued in the late 1980s. In what would be his final fight, Lewis defeated Vitali Klitschko by stoppage in 2003. He vacated his remaining titles and retired from boxing in 2004.