The main VIP guest of the boxing evening in Kazan this week was Olympic champion Lennox Lewis, who lost only two fights in his career and is considered one of the main living legends of world boxing. In a conversation with a BUSINESS Online correspondent the day before, the heavyweight, who had seen hundreds of international rings, said that he really liked the show in Kazan, and also made a sensational statement that he would not mind following in the footsteps of Roy Jones, who recently received a Russian passport.
“I KNEW LENNOX WOULD COME TO KAZAN. I JUST DID NOT TELL ANYONE"
Let us remind you that he is the owner of the main promotional office of Russia “World of Boxing” Andrey Ryabinsky(a construction magnate for whom boxing is a hobby) on November 4 held in Kazan the largest boxing show of the year in Russian history. Eight title fights took place in the Tatneft Arena ring, and in the main fights of the evening Denis Lebedev won Latifa Kayode, A Alexander Povetkin- Mariusha Wacha. With his victory, Povetkin took the last step towards the World Boxing Council (WBC) world title. Now an American stands in the way of the Russian Knight Deontay Wilder, who did not lose a single fight during his career, and finished 34 out of 35 fights ahead of schedule. Boxing fans have been waiting for their fight for a long time, but the boxer from overseas is constantly delaying this matter, defending his title in America against not the strongest fighters. Lewis himself states that the Russian boxer is not yet ready to fight him, although he admits that Povetkin has recently become much more technical and experienced.
Many guests of the boxing evening did not leave Kazan in order to also enjoy the Rubin - Liverpool football match yesterday. Thanks to this, the night before, the day after the end of the boxing show, the BUSINESS Online correspondent managed to communicate with Ryabiinsky. “My impressions of last night? You know, many people say thank you to me on social networks; today, when I was walking around Kazan, people came up and admitted how great everything went. This is the main assessment for me,” he said, sitting in the lobby of the Luciano Hotel.
It was expected that the head of the Chechen Republic would be present at the boxing evening Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Ryabinsky invited personally, but Kadyrov could not come, and in his absence the number one guest was the legend of world boxing served by the British crown Lennox Lewis.
“I initially knew that Lennox would come to Kazan, we had good relationship, I just decided not to talk about it, I made a little surprise,” Ryabinsky admitted. The former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, who lost only two fights in his career, was in the spotlight yesterday. Lewis is a world boxing legend, inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1988 he became Olympic champion at the Seoul Olympics in the prestigious super heavyweight category. The boxer has victories over such stars as Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman. Lewis is also famous for his 2002 knockout. Mike Tyson however, he was already more of a showman than a real boxer.
The last fight in Lennox’s professional career was a fight against the current mayor of Kyiv, and then one of the most strong boxers peace Vitali Klitschko. The event took place on June 21, 2003. Klitschko was very popular in Russia at that time, the fight was shown on Channel One in live. Klitschko successfully completed the first two rounds, but already at the beginning of the fight he received a severe cut to his eyebrow; experts are still arguing about this injury to the Ukrainian. Some believe that it was the result of Lewis’s successful attacks, but in Russia there was a popular opinion that the Briton deliberately went into the clinch and tried to aggravate his opponent’s injury with his head. It was because of Klitschko's injury that the judges decided to stop the fight after the 6th round. All attempts to achieve revenge were unsuccessful, Lennox decided to end his career as the undefeated champion of the WBC and IBO versions, defending both titles twice. After Lewis's retirement, the heavyweight division ushered in an era of hegemony for the Klitschko brothers.
Lennox spent the entire evening in the company of Ryabinsky and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, who then posted a photo with the boxer on his Instagram.
LENNOX LEWIS: "WAHA HAS A VERY STRONG JAW, HE WAS VERY HARD TO STOP"
Preparing for an interview with Ryabinsky, the BUSINESS Online correspondent did not expect that Lewis, who continues to behave in great shape, and behaves like a real superstar, to put it simply, he is still as cool as he was 15 years ago. It was unusual to see the champion without his famous braids - Lewis was dressed strictly in the British way: trousers, a driver's cap and a coat, under which was a sweatshirt with the inscription Muhammad Ali. It was impossible not to ask him about his impressions of Kazan and the boxing evening in general.
- Lennox, what are your impressions of Kazan, about yesterday’s show?
A very great show, I really enjoyed it. At the boxing itself, in the Tatneft Arena, there was a lot famous people with whom I took pictures. But on the street today, in the restaurant, on the contrary, they took pictures with me. I took a lot of photographs.
The Canadian boxer admitted that recently the Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin has become much more experienced and technical, but so far, according to Lbuis, he is not ready for a fight for the championship title with the American Deontay Wilder.
- How do you like the fight between Povetkin and Vakh?
Vakh has a very strong jaw, it was very difficult to stop him, and even Klitschko could not stop him - he has such a strong jaw and he is incredibly durable. But, since he had a cut, Sasha won the fight by knockout.
- Did you like the fight?
Yes, it was cool. In terms of fighting tall guys, Sasha has grown a lot. Previously, he simply jumped under the arm, but now his level has grown very much, he understands how to behave.
Povetkin said after the fight that he wanted to invest in one powerful blow, but the coach forced him to endure. Did you notice this?
Not everyone can be knocked out with one punch, in this case Povetkin was dealing with a very powerful jaw. As he said before, Vakha was almost impossible to knock out. It’s good that Sasha threw a lot of punches to the body, to the body - that was right.
- Is Povetkin ready for a title fight with Wilder?
Not at this stage yet. Sasha still needs a long time to prepare. Wilder has very long arms and will keep him at distance at all times. He needs to do even more work to competently go inside, under the opponent’s arms and deliver the right blows.
- Wilder himself avoids Povetkin.
They both appeared at the same time - one in America, the other in Russia. It is obvious that Wilder has very long arms, and this is what he will base his fight tactics on. I repeat, Povetkin still needs to do serious work in this component, to grow up, because there were mistakes in yesterday’s fight with Vakh. This type of fight, when one is tall and the other is much shorter, is very specific. Sasha still needs to work to be able to lead such fights as number one.
There was also the issue of Russian citizenship. Another legendary boxer recently received it Roy Jones- youngest, and even earlier became a Russian famous fighter MMA Jeff Monson. The day before, Ryabinsky said that Lennox was also thinking about it. Now this has been confirmed by the boxer himself.
- Lennox, how about a Russian passport?
Oh (smiles). Now I'm thinking about it, and I can say that it looks very attractive. Roy Jones received citizenship, and this is very cool.
Lennox Lewis - Canadian and British boxer. Absolute world champion Was born: September 2, 1965 at West Ham e. Professional record: 44 fights, 41 wins (32 by knockout), 2 losses and one draw.
Achievement: Olympic champion (Seoul, 1988), world heavyweight champion weight category according to WBC, IBF and WBA. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, the World Boxing Hall of Fame, and the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.
Lennox Lewis is a heavyweight boxer, winner of a gold medal at the XXIV Olympic Games in Seoul, absolute world boxing champion, inducted into the World and International Boxing Halls of Fame. He left boxing undefeated.
Childhood and youth
Lennox was born on September 2, 1965 in West Ham, London. The boy's parents, Carlton Brooks and Violet Lewis, immigrated from the island of Jamaica. Lewis was born as a large baby, weighing 4.8 kilograms. The doctor who delivered the baby named the newborn hero Lennox, and the name stuck with the baby. In 1971, Lewis's parents separated, and 6 years later the boy and his mother Violet moved to Canada, to the city of Kitchener. Lennox has a half-brother, Dennis.
In his new place, Lewis became a student at Cameron Heights High School, where he took up sports. In addition to boxing, the young man participated in team sports games: Canadian and European football, basketball, volleyball. But Lennox’s main passion remained working in the ring. Lewis trained persistently for 8 hours and already at the age of 17 became the world junior boxing champion. So it began sports biography Lennox Lewis.
Boxing
In 1984, the young boxer joined the Canadian national team at Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Then Lewis only reached the quarterfinals, in which he lost to the athlete Biggs. But even this result was assessed by the Canadian Sports Association as a great achievement for the boxer and offered him $750 thousand so that Lennox Lewis would officially enter the country’s professional league. But the young man refused, since his main dream at that time had not yet been realized: Lennox was going to become a gold medalist at the Olympics.
While preparing for the next major competition, which was planned in Seoul, Lewis received silver at the 1985 World Championships and the Pan American Games, and also became a gold medalist at the Championships North America. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Lennox took first place by knocking out opponent Riddick Bowie.
After returning from Korea, Lennox Lewis signs his first professional contract in England. A year later, the boxer becomes the European champion according to the EBU, and a year later - the champion of the British Commonwealth. In 1992, Lennox defeated Razor Ruddock, and a year later the WBC declared Lewis World Champion. Until 1994, Lewis did not know defeat, but the first took place in a fight with Oliver McCall. The rematch took place only in 1997 in Las Vegas, in a re-fight with McCall.
In 1999, an important competition took place in Lewis’s career: the athlete had the chance to become absolute champion world boxing championship, winning the fight against Evander Holyfield. The event was covered on television. The March match ended in a draw, so it was necessary to re-match. In November, a fight between Lewis and Holyfield took place, after which Lennox was awarded the victory.
The boxer became the absolute world champion at the age of 34. Now the athlete was required not to lose his regalia. With knockouts and points difference, Lewis one after another defeats opponents Michael Grant, France Botha, David Tua, Andrzej Golota, Lionel Butler. In 2001, Hasim Rahman managed to defeat Lewis, but six months later the latter returned the victory in a repeat competition.
Back in 1996, Lewis offered to fight in the ring, but Tyson avoided the fight, choosing Evander Holyfield as his opponent. In 2002, Lewis had a long-awaited meeting with Mike Tyson, whom Lennox knocked out in the 8th round. Despite the difference in results, both athletes received an equal award of $35 million. The legendary video received 1.7 million views on the Internet.
In 2003, Lennox Lewis thought about retiring. On last Stand the athlete challenged Kirk Johnson, but the opponent dropped out of the game before the start of the competition due to an injury. He was replaced as a replacement, and the fight with him took place on June 21. The Ukrainian was confidently leading on points, it was clear that Lennox’s shot was no longer the same. But in the 6th round, Lewis inflicted severe damage to Vitaly with a cut to his face. The scar from the wound was still visible in Klitschko’s photo for a long time. A serious injury caused Klitschko's technical defeat. And Lennox Lewis, having retained the title of absolute world champion until the end, left professional ring forever.
Personal life
In the early 2000s, there were reports in the press that Lennox Lewis had asked singer Aisha Mike to marry him. But the message turned out to be false. In fact, the boxer began courting Miss Jamaica runner-up Violet Chang.
The girl set a condition for the athlete: either she or the ring. Lennox chose family. The wedding took place in 2005. Soon the couple became the happy parents of four children: London, Ling, Leia and Levia Lewis.
Lennox Lewis now
Now Lennox Lewis lives in his own mansion, surrounded by a large family. The athlete regularly works out in his personal gym, maintaining excellent physical fitness, works as a commentator for HBO. Lennox did not waste the money he earned in the ring, but wisely invested it in business and real estate.
Former boxer built cottages in Jamaica, Canada and England. Lewis owns the chain health complexes. Still at the beginning professional career Lennox founded a school in London for children from troubled families.
Lennox Lewis's childhood and family
Lennox was born in east London, in West Ham in 1965. The parents separated when the boy was six years old. Lennox stayed with his mother Violet. Six years later, the small family emigrated to Canada. Lewis is still very attached to his mother and says she has a huge influence on his life. And in general, this intrepid boxer considers himself a “mama’s boy.”In Canada, Lewis started having trouble with his peers. At school, the boys laughed at Lewis's London accent and English slang expressions. The boy sincerely could not understand why his classmates were laughing at him. Individually, no one wanted to mess with Lennox - he was much larger and stronger than his peers, but when they united, the guys began to literally bully him.
To end this problem, Lewis took up boxing. In the gym, it immediately became clear that this boy was made for boxing. In addition, Lennox turned out to be unusually hardworking: he could spend hours perfecting various elements of a boxing match.
In general, Lewis grew up as a very athletic guy. Played very well in volleyball, basketball and American football. He was repeatedly offered to play for both basketball and football team college, but Lennox did not change boxing.
Hard training bore fruit - at the age of 17, Lewis became the world champion among juniors.
Lennox Lewis - amateur boxer
In 1984, Lennox represented Canada at the Los Angeles Olympics. He just turned 18 years old. All the opponents were much older and more experienced than him. Still, Lewis managed to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to the future Olympic champion Biggs from the USA. In Canada Olympic result regarded as a great success, they offered the young man 750 thousand dollars to become a professional. Lennox, however, had other plans; he wanted to win a gold medal. Olympic medal and only after that go pro.In 1985 he becomes silver medalist World Championships in Seoul.
In 1986 he became the winner of the Commonwealth Games.
Wins in 1987 silver medal Pan American Games and “gold” of the North American Championship.
Vitali Klitschko - Lennox Lewis 2003 1+1
Finally, in Seoul in 1988, Lewis realized his dream - he became an Olympic champion, winning the final fight against American Riddick Bowie by knockout.
This ended Lewis's amateur career.
Lennox Lewis' career as a professional boxer
Lewis signed his first professional contract in England in 1989. Lennnox was not the type of boxer who, from a young age, achieved impressive victories and reached the top of the sport. He walked towards his titles gradually.In 1990, Lennox became the EBU European champion. The following year he won the title of British Commonwealth champion. In October 1992, at London's Earl's Court, Lewis knocked out Razor Ruddock, who was considered the No. 2 heavyweight after Mike Tyson, in the second round. And in January 1993, Lennox was declared WBC world champion.
Mike Tyson - Lennox Lewis
Until 1994, Lewis successfully fought off attempts by contenders to take the championship belt from him, but in September 1994 he was unexpectedly defeated at Wembley Stadium by Oliver McCall.
Lennox was able to regain his title only three years later by defeating the same McCall in Las Vegas.
1999 was a turning point in Lewis's career. In March, his fight took place with Evander Holyfield for holding titles in all three versions. professional boxing. The fight was watched by about one and a half hundred million television viewers around the world. The fight ends in a draw and therefore a re-fight was scheduled for November of the same year.
November 13, 1999 Lennox Lewis becomes the absolute world heavyweight champion, defeating Holyfield on points.
Lennox Lewis' new boxing titles
In the first half of 2000, Lennox defended his title twice: first, he knocked out Michael Grant in the second round, and then, also in the second round, he knocked out France Botha.At the end of 2000, Lewis won again, this time on points against David Tua.
In April 2001, Lewis unexpectedly lost his fight to Hasim Rahman in the fifth round. In November of the same year, a rematch took place and Lennox knocked out his opponent in the fourth round.
In 2002, the famous fight between Lewis and Michael Tyson took place. In the eighth round, Tyson was knocked out.
Lennox Lewis fought his last fight in 2005 against Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko. Due to the serious injury of his opponent, the referee awarded the victory to Lewis, although according to the judges' cards, Klitschko won 4 out of 6 rounds. A few days after this fight, Lewis announced the end of his sports career.
Personal life of Lennox Lewis
After the fight with Tyson, newspapers wrote that not only sports career boxer, but his personal life is also going uphill. There were rumors everywhere that the champion was going to marry singer Aisha Mike. But things didn’t go further than gossip and rumors.In 2005, Lewis married Miss Jamaica runner-up Violet Chang. The family has four children: Landon, Ling, Leia and Levia Lewis. It was his wife who insisted that Lennox leave boxing after the fight with Klitschko. The beautiful wife put the question bluntly: “It’s either me or the sport.” Lewis made a choice in favor of his other half.
Lennox Lewis today
Today former athlete leads a measured lifestyle. He has a significant fortune that he earned in the ring. Lewis is the owner of a chain of health clubs, a mansion in Jamaica and houses in Canada and England.He doesn’t like to waste money and prefers to invest it in real estate or keep it in banks. He does not attend various elite events and lives not like a multimillionaire, but like a normal person.
