Lennox Lewis
“The Lion”
Titles & honours
- Undisputed Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
- Olympic Gold (Super heavyweight 1988)
Biography
Lennox Claudius Lewis, born London 1965 to a British mother and raised in Canada from age 12, won super heavyweight gold for Canada at Seoul 1988 and turned professional under a British promoter, restoring British boxing's heavyweight pedigree. From 1993 to 2003 he held versions of the world heavyweight title and in November 1999 became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Riddick Bowe by outpointing Evander Holyfield (after the controversial March 1999 draw). Lewis avenged both his career losses (Oliver McCall TKO 2, 1994; Hasim Rahman KO 5, 2001), beat Mike Tyson by 8th-round TKO in June 2002, and retired in 2003 at age 38 after stopping Vitali Klitschko in 6 rounds. The last undisputed heavyweight champion before Oleksandr Usyk's 2024 reign.