World champion Lewis quits boxing
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Champ Lewis has turned down a rematch with Vitali Klitschko
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| LENNOX LEWIS FACTBOX |
Born: September 2, 1965
Height: 6ft 5in
Reach: 84in
Turned Pro: June 27, 1989
Fight record: 41 wins (31 KOs), 2 defeats, 1 draw
Titles: Olympic gold medal (1988); WBC title (1993); WBC, IBF, WBA titles (1999)
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LONDON, England -- World Heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis has officially confirmed his retirement from boxing at a news conference in London.
The 38-year-old world number one has turned his back on a rematch with Vitali Klitschko, whom he beat in his last fight last June.
Lewis was told by the World Boxing Council he must agree to face the Ukrainian again by March 1 or be stripped of his title.
Lewis lost only two of 44 fights in a 14-year professional career after he won the 1988 Seoul Olympic super-heavyweight gold medal for Canada.
He becomes the first reigning heavyweight champion to retire since Rocky Marciano.
He told the news conference: "It's not easy being heavyweight champion of the world. It's very hard to achieve. It's even harder to keep, to stay at the top.
"I am a person who believes if you can't give 110 percent you shouldn't do it. I've given a 110 percent in my sport.
"I respect boxing a great deal. It has done so much for me. One of the reasons I am retiring is that I respect the sport so much.
Younger generation
"It is time for the younger generation of boxers to make their own route to become heavyweight champion. The challenge is there for them to achieve what I have achieved over the last 12 years."
Lewis became the WBC champion by default in 1992 when American Riddick Bowe threw the belt into a dustbin but lost the title two years later to Olivier McCall in the second round of their fight at Wembley.
In 1999 he became the undisputed champion with a unanimous points win over Evander Holyfield then confirmed he was the best heavyweight of his era by stopping Mike Tyson in the eighth round of a one-sided fight in Memphis in June 2002.
Trainer Emanuel Steward recently said he wanted Lewis to beat Klitschko one more time but would understand if he didn't want the fight.
Lewis' two losses -- to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman -- were huge upsets, but he went on to beat both in rematches. His one draw was against Evander Holyfield in a fight most people felt he had won.
Former manager Frank Maloney, who guided Lewis through most of his career, said the loss to Rahman in South Africa in April 2001 was a sign he was losing his spark.
"He should have gone after the Tyson fight because there was nothing else for him to prove then," Maloney said. "He had achieved everything he had set out to do."
Duke McKenzie, a former world champion at three weights who now is a boxing analyst with the BBC, said the news was no surprise to the boxing fraternity.
"Lennox has earned a hell of a lot of money from boxing and he doesn't have anything more to prove to anyone now and it is the right decision.
"He had nothing to gain from a rematch and everything to lose. Lennox has been fighting to establish what he called a boxing legacy and I think he's created that now."
