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ALinChainz
02-05-2004, 02:58 PM
By ROBERT MILLWARD, AP Sports Writer


February 5, 2004


LONDON (AP) -- Lennox Lewis called a news conference for Friday amid reports he is set to announce his retirement.

The BBC, citing unidentified sources in the United States, and other British media said the WBC heavyweight champion is ending his 14-year career. A news conference is scheduled for Friday morning in London.

Lewis' management office declined to confirm the boxer's retirement Thursday.


The 38-year-old Lewis has fought just twice in the past 26 months, knocking out former undisputed champion Mike Tyson in eight rounds in Memphis in June 2002 and stopping Vitali Klitschko in Los Angeles on June 21, 2003. The Ukrainian was ahead on points at the time, but the fight was stopped because of a cut.

The WBC has mandated a rematch and ordered Lewis to agree to the fight by March 1 or risk being stripped of the title.

Klitschko's manager, Bernd Bonte, said his fighter hoped Lewis would continue to fight and give him a rematch, or even make a comeback later.

``Vitali believes he was winning the last fight and he wants to go down as the man who beat the man,'' Bonte told The Guardian newspaper. ``He will be very sad if he does not get another chance.

``But who knows what the future holds? Perhaps Lennox will get to the end of the year and find he is missing the limelight and there may still be a chance the fight can happen.''

Lewis won the Olympic superheavyweight title for Canada in Seoul in 1988, but returned to Britain, where he was born, to turn pro. He is 41-2-1 with 32 knockouts.

Lewis first won the heavyweight title by default in 1992 when the WBC champion Riddick Bowe relinquished the crown. Bowe, in a dispute with the WBC, dropped the belt into a trash can at a London news conference.

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 observers felt he had won. He later beat Holyfield on points to become undisputed world champion.

Gmoney
02-05-2004, 06:55 PM
Not a bad move, get out while he can still form a complete sentence!!

Va Beach VH Fan
02-05-2004, 08:00 PM
Don't let the door hit ya on the way out....

ALinChainz
02-06-2004, 11:32 AM
And if it does, it would put him down for the count. Never will be mentioned in the discussions of great heavyweight champs. Fought both Holyfield and Tyson and the very end of their careers.

Too bad for Klitschko, he would have came out in the rematch fast, not wanting that cut bullshit to happen again. Would have been interesting. If Lewis takes anymore time off, a victory over him won't mean shit for Klitschko, as he will be fighting Lewis at the end of his career also.

SilvioDante
02-06-2004, 12:52 PM
Yeah, I know Lewis would be at the end of his carrer, but I would have liked to see Klitschko beat the piss outta him...

Full Bug
02-06-2004, 01:01 PM
He knocked out Tyson, and it looked good on Tyson at the time, thats the only thing I will really remember about him.......And he was Canadian, at least when it suited him......

ALinChainz
02-06-2004, 01:41 PM
Especially after Lewis spouting off after the fight, standing there and bleeding all over Larry Merchant, how he would have knocked Klitschko out anyways. Maybe if Klitschko starts questioning Lewis' manhood, that always seems to get Lennox riled up.

Full Bug, that avatar definitely deserves a vote.

Full Bug
02-06-2004, 03:44 PM
Originally posted by ALinChainz

Full Bug, that avatar definitely deserves a vote.
Thanx dude, its hard to find a cool avatar these days......:D
I'm not kidding, must have been to 30 sites before finding that one......
So who will be the next great champ after Lewis? Its hard to find a great standout boxer anymore......

Full Bug
02-06-2004, 03:58 PM
I also voted for you by the way......

DLR7884
02-07-2004, 01:32 PM
Lennox Lewis is a cunt.

I'm glad to see that piece of eurotrash go.

DLR7884
Now there is no talent in the heavyweight division.

Va Beach VH Fan
02-07-2004, 02:36 PM
Holy shit, I never knew he was from Canada...

I always thought he was born/raised as a Brit....

I guess it was because I never heard him say "eh" or "aboot"....

:D

Little Texan
02-07-2004, 10:56 PM
Fucking pussy. He's getting out because he's afraid he'll get his ass beat in a rematch against the Russian.

ALinChainz
02-07-2004, 11:18 PM
Originally posted by Full Bug
I also voted for you by the way......

Appreciated Full Bug.

It looks like Roy Jones Jr. is back in the light Heavyweight division for the time being and it now looks like Klitschko will fight Corrie Sanders for the vacated title. Sanders was the one that absolutely beat the living hell out of his brother. The other guy is Chris Byrd, who beat Klitschko when the Russian had to stop due to an injured shoulder, which he took a lot of shit for, and the Lewis fight redeemed him of.

Throw in David Tua, maybe Joe Mesi, and like DLR7884 says, there is really no talent.

redblkwht
02-09-2004, 12:17 AM
Originally posted by DLR7884



Now there is no talent in the heavyweight division.
How bout no talent in Boxing except for lightweight fighters?
Boxing has hung itself because of bad promoters like
Don King, they killed the sport.
Its too bad, it used to be my favorite sport to watch!

ALinChainz
02-09-2004, 02:28 PM
Me too. I used to make it a point to know who the champs were in each weight class, when there was only the WBA and WBC. There was nothing better than a division with a unified champ, and there weren't many. Subscribed to The Ring magazine, all that, was into it.

Then Don King out of control. In my opinion, he ruined Tyson's career, not that Mike would have needed help, but he takes over, the upset to Buster Douglas, and the plummet begins. Boxing has a long way to go to ever return to the prominant event it used to be.