Top 5 Lennox Lewis victories
As the proverb goes. “You never miss the water till the well runs dry.”
When Lennox Claudius Lewis was active and blessing the boxing fraternity with the opportunity to witness a modern-day heavyweight great, he was under-appreciated. Whether it was his boxing style or his reserved personality, he just did not provide fans and writers with the thunder and drama they all craved.
However, slowly but gradually, Lewis compiled a resume that cemented him as a consensus top 5 heavyweight of all time. As Lewis frequently stated, his status will ‘age like fine wine.’ The more time that passes, the more everybody can look back at Lewis’ career and appreciate his accomplishments.
Once the 1988 super-heavyweight Olympic gold medalist linked up with late legendary trainer Emanuel Steward a few years into his professional career, Steward put the finishing touches on Lewis and helped him to become a formidable fighter who possessed the skills along with the physical attributes to fit into any era and hold his own against any heavyweight in history.
tanding at 6’5 with an 84-inch reach, Lewis had a considerable size advantage over many opponents, but also developed the skills to back up the size.
The self-proclaimed ‘pugilist specialist’ could nullify the strengths of his opponents, utilizing his height and reach while staying consistent with his elite jab, which set up a crushing right hand. He could always make the necessary adjustments, switching from a calculated, thinking boxer to an aggressive destroyer with lethal finishing ability when deemed appropriate, or vice versa.
Lewis emerged as the number one heavyweight of his generation, a great era filled with quality opposition, transforming the world’s image of British heavyweights forever and becoming the first British undisputed champion since Bob Fitzsimmons 100 years earlier.
Very few fighters hang up their gloves at the right time. Lewis ended his career at the right time while sitting on his throne.
The man nicknamed “The Lion” is one of the greatest heavyweights to ever step through the ropes, and so we recall here the five greatest triumphs that show the greatness of Lewis.
5) Donovan “Razor” Ruddock KO2, October 31, 1992
Donovan “Razor” Ruddock was a destructive puncher who had recently brutally knocked out the highly regarded Michael Dokes and had two tough wars with Mike Tyson over 19 rounds. He was ranked №1 by the WBC, viewed by many as the cream of the crop in the blue-ribbon division. Therefore, despite being British, Commonwealth, and European champion, Lewis was the underdog entering this fight.
American boxing historian Hank Kaplan told The Independent ahead of the fight: “Ruddock is the heir apparent. In America, you’ll find the consensus is that Ruddock is the best heavyweight out of jail.”
With Tyson now behind bars, Ruddock was viewed as the inevitable heir to the throne.
However, on Halloween night in 1992, none of this mattered because Lewis had different plans.
Lewis looked calm throughout the build-up, and the fight billed as “The Fight for the Right” was finished in 2 rounds. With three knockdowns, Lewis obliterated the favorite; a man viewed as a very battle-hardened, dangerous opponent.
With this demolition job, Lewis had put himself on the map and cemented his standing amongst the heavyweights. Although not officially a title fight, it essentially turned out to be one for the soon-to-be-vacated and thrown in the trash by Riddick Bowe, WBC belt.
4) Hasim Rahman II KO4, November 17, 2001
In their first meeting in South Africa seven months earlier, Hasim Rahman had knocked out a complacent Lewis in the fifth round with a right hand that produced one of the biggest upsets in the history of heavyweight boxing.
Due to a rematch clause installed in the contract for the first fight, Lewis was able to get Rahman back in the ring after a court ruling.
Once both men entered the ring at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Lewis left no doubt as to who the better fighter was. When Lewis had something to prove, he was always a different beast.
Lewis dominated the first three rounds with great ring generalship, staying busy with a stiff, sharp left jab. Then in the fourth round, Lewis connected with a crisp one-two, a nice right hand that laid Rahman flat on his back, gazing at the ceiling and blood trickling from his mouth. Rahman got back to his feet, but then went stumbling back to the canvas and was counted out.
Lewis put on one of his finest performances with a spectacular knockout, the 2001 knockout of the year, to become only the third heavyweight in history to win his titles back in an immediate rematch, after Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali.
3) Ray Mercer SD, May 10, 1996
This was a battle between the 1988 Seoul Olympics gold medallists, Lewis the super heavyweight champion, and Ray Mercer, the heavyweight champion.
It was a make-or-break fight for Lewis.
Lewis had suffered his first upset loss to Oliver McCall two years earlier. Mercer had three prior losses, including in his previous fight a year earlier to Evander Holyfield. Both men, former champions and contenders at this point, we’re aware that if they wanted to fulfill their dreams of sitting at the throne again, failure was not an option.
This turned out to be a war. Mercer was a savage heavyweight who had no regard for finesse and displaying the sweet science. This was a fight in which Lewis had to fight. Boxing would not be enough, and he would have to show grit. Lewis’ power would not save him on this occasion against Mercer’s granite chin.
This was the fight in Lewis’ career when he proved to everybody else and most importantly to himself that if he is ever in a tough fight, he will have the capability to dig deep and pull through. He had the heart and mettle of a true champion.
Larry Merchant stated prior to the fight: “We’ll see if Lewis is real or an illusion.”
Lewis was for real. With this hard-earned split decision victory, Lewis was ready to go and re-attain the throne that was rightfully his.
2) Vitali Klitschko TKO6, June 21, 2003
After Lewis’ original opponent, Kirk Johnson, pulled out two weeks prior with an injury, Vitali Klitschko agreed to fight Lewis on 12 days’ notice.
Klitschko was the WBC’s №1 rated contender getting a shot at such short notice. A man standing at 6ft 7in with a record of 32–1 with 31 KO’s, with his sole defeat an injury retirement to Chris Byrd. Taking this challenge was further testament to Lewis’ heart and grit as a real champion.
The action that unraveled cemented Lewis’ championship mettle in what turned out to be his last professional fight.
After the first two rounds in which Klitschko had great success, Lewis followed his legendary Kronk trainer’s advice to take the fight to the aggressive Ukrainian. Lewis immediately came out in the third round to land a big right to open a terrible gash over Klitschko’s left eye, which turned out to be a fight-changer.
Lewis had already proved before in his career that he could go to the trenches if needs be, and he made this an alley-way fight, which Klitschko showed the capability to handle, never more so than when he took a hellacious uppercut in the sixth and final round before the ringside doctor advised the referee to stop the fight after Klitschko’s face had become a blood-bath.
A clearly out-of-shape Lewis, weighing his heaviest ever, showed his championship heart, grit, and know-how to pull through an almighty challenge against a very determined foe who would go on to become a dominant champion in what proved to be a passing of the torch fight in 2003.
- Evander Holyfield UD, November 13, 1999
The greatest victory of Lewis’ career has to be when he finally achieved greatness in becoming the first undisputed champion from the UK in the 20th century.
After their first fight eight months earlier, which ended in a draw, one of the most disputed decisions in boxing history, Lewis avenged what many believed to be a robbery by finally hearing the following words at the conclusion of the rematch: “And the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world….”
Words that have not been repeated again for 23 years.
With this 12-round unanimous decision over an improved and focused Holyfield, Lewis established his greatness against the other leading great heavyweight of his era. The man he has stated was the toughest opponent of his career.
“The Lion” had been seeking an elusive career-defining super-fight for years. Once it finally arrived, it provided him with the opportunity to win all the marbles and cement his name in the history books as the greatest heavyweight of his generation.
As John Rawling stated in The Guardian: “Having repeatedly told the world “Lennox Lewis is on a mission,” Britain’s greatest heavyweight was able to reflect on mission accomplished.”
