He will always be remembered as the greatest boxer that no one cares about. Because he is, who cares about Lewis. He came in to an era when heavyweights were not very good. The best fighters he fought were Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Tyson when he was insane and Holyfield when he was 80. The Klitschko guy beat his ass and Lewis got away on a tecnicality. When Tyson was in his prime and before his jail time, he was easily considered one of the greatest heavyweights to ever step into the ring, or going to be rather. Lennox Lewis is absolutley no one, he fought weak opponents and occasionaly lost. So good buy, now I don't have to hear you brag about how great you think you are and your accent.

Well, I wanna hear what digipoi says. He's the Boxing expert around here....

I disagree. Lennox was a very strong fighter who boxed well. I think he would have stood his ground against the former greats.

Lewis would have stood his ground for maybe 3 rounds then his chin would have gotten the best of him. The heavyweight boxing era sure lost alot of ground, theres no talent. I mean, who's the heir apparent, Klitshcos? However you spell it, I can never remember. But don't get me wrong, Lennox was very good with what he had to work with. He had "some" talent. Never stood out as "special".

His fakeness is what I couldn't stand. He was from Canada but suddenly fighting out of Britain with a British accent? huh? Kinda like Holyfield preaching all the time yet married like 10 times with 50 kids (exaggerating but close).

Heavyweight title is up for grabs now, it can belong to "any" of the contenders just depends on what day it is. Who knows maybe Ruiz will unify, cough, cough.

I think what makes Lewis special is that he unified the titles. A feat few had achieved in the past. Especially in this era. As for the fake quality you referred to I couldn't agree any more. I'm ashamed that many Canadian reporters referred to him as Canadian. He didn't want to be one of us and quite frankly doesn't deserve to be. To be perfectly honest, Lennox was born in Jamaica, moved here at a young age. Won in the olympics as a Canadian then became British to further his boxing career. Great move on his part as the American media never would have taken a Canadian seriously. I know there's Gatti but the yanks even consider him American.

As for the predesessor. I don't know where to look. I don't believe the Klitshko's will be accepted in an American market. Goodness help up if Ruiz unifies the titles. I don't see a legitamet contender in the heaveyweight class. Maybe, for the time being the stress will have to fall on stars in other weight classes like the aforementioned Arturo Gatti. He's amazing to watch and could help keep attention off of the lack luster heaveyweight class.

Lewis unifying titles goes back to one thing, who was the competition. He fought most foes on a decline, or the little talented on the incline. I do recognize he was the champ and he was the man to beat. I cant take credit away. Or at least I'm refraining from it as much as possible. I really don't care for Lewis. I cant stand Ruiz even more. Ive already made a decision to never watch Ruiz in a fight again. And I'm a fanatic for boxing, I will watch the crappiest fight just to get a fix, but I don't like watching grass grow. Which is what Ruiz fights are like.

What are unified titles anyways. There are soooo many bogus ones so these sanctioning bodies can make a little more cash. There should only be one, and fighters should have to "really" be forced to fight the best out there.

About the Klitzkos (whatever), they are already being accepted in our market. Look at HBO, calling them the heir apparents. They had the public believing they were the ones to dethrone Lewis. Had Lewis been in fighting shape, he wouldve destroyed Vitali.

Arturro Gatti is quite a fun fighter to watch, I rate him about a 6 or 7 in the top ten. Unfortunately, he really doesn't stand a chance against Tszyu, Corley, Judah. Good thing Judah is moving up to the welters to fight Spinks. Now thats gonna be good...

I disagree. Lennox was a very strong fighter who boxed well. I think he would have stood his ground against the former greats.

He wouldn't have had a chance against Lenny McLean I don't know if you knew him but he was unbeatable back in his day, used to be a bare knuckle boxer and he never lost a fight to anyone.

I don't know dude some of the pro boxers would be deadly bare knuckle boxers.

http://www.fightauthority.com/fighters.php4?fighterID=15
Pretty tough hombre but I might have to disagree. Professional boxing is much different from bare-knuckle fighting. Lennox would definitely give the guy a whole lotta respect therefore winning on a twelve round decision or earlier. Depends on what type of shape and training Lenny does as it seems hes not used to long distance fights. In a street fight, Id pick Lenny.

If Lenny didnt pass on, match him up with Tua. That wouldve been a good one.

You maybe right about the long distance fights, but It would be interesting to see the outcome, I wouldn't rule him out altogether, he was one tough ******. In a street fight, definitely Lenny as you said.

In his prime...

wouldnt want to **** him off myself.

never liked him, i was more of mike tyson guy

Tyson was great to watch, good entertainment. Too many what-ifs after he went to prison, never the same person again. He is now a negative role-model and did a bit of harm to the sport, thats my only peeves with the guy which is tremendous really. Considering, Boxing could very well be dying.

BTW, did you hear the rumor that Tyson was negotiating to fight Rickson Gracie for Rickson's retirement fight. Don't know what will come of it but huge money for Japan, which is where it will be staged. Rickson's like 400-0 but don't think he has fought the recent influx of new generation mixed martial art combatants, so Tyson would actually be quite dangerous for Rickson. Not to mention, another rumor has it that, Tyson's been training mixed martial arts for the past few years with a rather well known trainer. Don't remember the trainer's name at the moment.

Rickson? If you mean the mma guy it's Royce Gracie. I heard the rumour that Mike Tyson will fight Bob "the beast" Sapp in a K-1 match. Bob Sapp is 7 feet tall and 350 lbs. It'd be an interesting show thats for sure.

His innate talent and early mastery of the sport have resulted in an impeccable undefeated record in more than 400 fights, Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, free-style wrestling, Sambo, open weight free-style competitions, and no holds barred challenge matches. Rickson is a two time Brazilian Champion in free-style wrestling, a Gold Medal Winner of Sambo, and for the last sixteen years he has been the middle-heavyweight and no weight division World Jiu-Jitsu Champion.

Bob Sapp and Tyson is a circus act. Undeniably Tyson would destroy him in the first round via KO. Sapp is much too slow and doesnt have a chin "at all".

No chin?  Have you actually seen him?  He's nuts.  You'd need to hit him with a sledge hammer to knock him out.  Tyson won't be able to handle the unparellel power of Sapp.  Tyson in his prime might have been able to beat Sapp not now.

Kimo almost had Sapp out and Kimo sucks. So my answer to both questions would be yes. Ive seen Sapp and he would get knocked out by Tyson. And, I would be willing to put my money where my mouth is on this one for sure. Don't let size fool you. What you should be asking is what style they would be fighting. That would make a difference. They gave the fighters an option of K-1 style, MMA style, and boxing. Sapp gave Tyson the choice, and you would think Tyson would pick boxing, but I believe he chose MMA style. Now if the fight would materialize, I could make me some money even though I can guarantee the odds will be in favor of Iron Mike thus earning me very little return but I would still make money

BTW, I'm surprised you've never heard of Rickson

Even if Tyson picked MMA Sapp's style is still ground and pound. It would still be a punch fest thus the significance of the MMA rules would be diminished. I don't believe Tyson can still knock out some of the best in the world. Sapp took some serious shots from Bonjasky in the K-1 GP and proceeded to throw him on his ass and drill him one. He got DQed but still he showed Bonjasky who was boss. I don't think the Tyson/Sapp fight is as predictable as you presume. It's only a matter of time though til they fight.

As for Rickson, I'm not sure. I was reading it and saw some pics. He reminds me a lot of Royce but the name does not ring a bell. Any relation between the two?

The only heavyweights that I can see being good are James 'Lights Out' Tony and maybe Chris Byrd. I don't take the Klitschko brothers being that good, since I think Lewis sucked. We never mentioned Hasim Rahman, Lewis got CLOCKED by him. That over-hand blew him away, that was a god-damn shame. Lewis was more absorbed with his movie or whatever he was doing to train. The great ones don't under estimate, they prepare for everyone. Tyson losing to Douglas was not lack of preperation, Robin Givens was to blame. I have seen that fight many times, you can tell Mike wasn't all there. I hope Tyson just retires, that way I can watch Oscar beat up Trinidad and dismember Mosley. Plus, we should all know Roy Jones Jr. is one of the best ever, his talent is unimaginable. He was simply born to box.

Rickson and Royce are brothers.

@ Toxikk: Why would Lewis be afraid? He was out of shape for the match and still won. There's no credit in being close in the end Lewis won case closed.

I think all in all the reason why Lennox Lewis does not get the respect he truly does deserve is quite frankly he was boring to watch because he was so good.

Lewis actually knows the art of boxing, and he did just that, he boxed. He was not flamboyant (although his after fight talks with Larry Merchant were amusing for the fact he was so egotistical), and he just went into the ring and did what most boxers do not do nowadays, he out-boxed his opponents with little or no flare. This makes for a very boring heavy weight champion and leads to the reason why the likes of Tyson was such a good heavyweight champ in the public eye. When Tyson fought (and I refer to him in his prime the last 7 years do not count to me) you knew he was going to knock someone's head off and / or it was going to be an exciting fight. With Lewis you knew more or less that who was going to win, but you also knew it was more or less not going to be an exiting fight. Hence the public descredits him simply for the fact he was not entertaining.

When I first heard of his decision I though to myself what a punk, he is dodging Klitchsko, but after having a few days to think about it I think if he truly does stay retired I give him nothing but respect... because 20 years from now he will still be able to talk and hold a conversation, which that truly does make him a champion in his own right as the same cannot be said for most boxers period. So more power to him if he has decided his health, well being, and keeping his brain are more important than fighting a couple of more fights to prove what he already has anyway.

LEWIS AND HIS RETIREMENT TO BOXING FANS


And with that quote the end to a Hall of Fame career came to fruition on Friday February 6th 2004. Whether you liked him or loathed him, appreciate the fact that you saw him because fighters like Lennox Lewis come along only once every blue moon. With all the negative press geared towards boxing today, much of it well deserved, Lennox Lewis was one of the people whom you never had to worry about. Fitting enough that he should retire as someone you needn’t worry about in the future.


THE REALITY OF BEING WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION


Fair or not, the facts are and always have been that the actions and behavior of the World Heavyweight Champion has always had a broad stroking effect upon the mainstream reputation of the sport of boxing as a whole. After all, the heavyweight champ is the most visible man of all. It’s just the way it works.


LEWIS NEVER DUMPED ON THE TITLE OR FANS!


Looking over the past 15 years, the example set has been anything but pretty. The phrase "Heavyweight champion" has been attached to events ranging from harmless absurdities such as Riddick Bowe joining the United States Marine Corps only to be thrown out before completing boot camp, to extremely disturbing events, up to and including violent Felonies. And on the night when boxing had its largest viewing audience ever, a former heavyweight champion reduced himself to animal standards, biting off a section of a fellow human being’s ear then spitting it to the ground. The collective damage the sport of boxing has suffered at the hands of its most prominent figurehead has been devastating. Then there was Lewis, thank God!


TRUE TO HIMSELF & HONORED FREQUENTLY


In comparison Lewis was a man guilty of essentially nothing. In fact Lewis was and is an excellent role model. While living in Canada, Lewis represented his country in the 1988 Olympic Games, winning a Gold medal. Later in life Lewis was awarded the highest honor a citizen of the United Kingdom could obtain becoming a Member of British Empire in 1998. Just outside of Forrest Gate, there is a school for children having special needs, built by and currently funded by the future Hall of Famer Lewis. In 1999 Lennox became the first undisputed World heavyweight champion from England since Bob Fitzsimmons more than a century ago. And from that day forward, Lennox Lewis represented the sport of boxing with as much honor and dignity as one could have wished for.


TIMING WAS PERFECT IN MINDS OF MOST


And when his time came, Lewis thwarted one of larger complaints boxing fans have ‘Why is this guy still in the ring?’ by retiring while still on top. Or as Lennox himself stated "I am particularly pleased to be stepping down while still the reigning lineal heavyweight champion. Only two other men, Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano, have retired as champion and stayed retired. I promise you, I will be the third."… Actually Lewis has done that and more, he has beaten every man he has ever faced and that is a claim only a precious few can make, an achievement so rare, Muhammad Ali himself couldn’t do it.


LENNOX MOWED THEM ALL OVER!


In the 70’s it was Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton. The cornerstones of Lewis’ era included himself along with Tyson, Bowe and Holyfield. Simply put, Lewis bested em’ all, bested em’ inside the ring, Bowe in the Olympics and bested em’ all outside of the ring. The new era has begun, who will reign as the next heavyweight champion has yet to be determined. The only thing we know for sure is that they are going to have incredibly large shoes to fill. Lets hope they continue in the tradition of the Lewis rein.

A quick quote from Jack Dunne who is now writing articles for RingTalk. One my favorite sites with some of the better boxing scribes.

The heavyweight champion of the world retired, and the world responded with a big yawn.

Don't blame boxing, a sport that has enough problems as it is.

Blame Lennox Lewis, who wanted fans to embrace him but never gave them a chance.

...snip

He was often overly cautious in the ring, never more evident than when Oliver McCall began crying in front of him in the ring and Lewis, suspecting a trick, didn't go after him. He was also knocked out twice by single punches to the head by McCall and Hasim Rahman.

Even his two biggest wins were somewhat suspect, with Mike Tyson a shell of his former self and Evander Holyfield past his prime.

But it's what Lewis did - or failed to do - outside the ring that will always tarnish his reign.

Heavyweight champions are supposed to be larger than life, and at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, Lewis was larger than most. But he never seemed to embrace the sport that made him rich, or the fans who wanted to cheer him on.

Lewis rarely ventured out between fights and when he was seen in public he was usually hidden behind dark shades, underneath dreadlocks and a cap. To many, he was perceived as aloof, even arrogant.

Lewis was largely unloved, to the point that he was booed loudly when he won his last fight against Klitschko.