Lennox Lewis is again contemplating retirement, using the same old line he’s been using for the last few years of his career: ‘There’s nobody left to fight.†Perhaps an addendum should be added: ‘Who can I beat easily and then get a big pay cheque for it?â€
While the heavyweight ranks are pretty thin at the moment, there are boxers who could beat Lewis and he knows it. There are few heavyweight fights featuring Lewis that would have much appeal.
The British heavyweight has never been a big drawcard on his own — it’s usually his opponents who pull the crowds. It doesn’t matter who the likes of Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield fight, people will watch. Lewis is a different matter.
Perhaps he refrains from retiring because, despite all his success in the ring, Lewis has never received the support of the likes of Frank Bruno in Britain or any United States-based world champion. Lewis feels he still has something to prove.
Unfortunately the road ahead has little to offer and, realistically, his career can only go downhill from here.
There is a lot of interest in a return with Vitali Klitschko, thanks to the determination with which the Ukranian-born heavyweight took him on and to all intents and purposes, showed Lewis up for what he is — a washed-up egomaniac who believes he is a bigger legend than he ever will be.
The prime ingredient Lewis is mis-sing as a boxer is honour. When beating Bruno, he landed the telling blow that heralded the end when Bruno was looking away. When fighting novice Michael Grant, Lewis held on to the back of Grant’s head and pounded away at him, thereby destroying what could have been a promising career for his opponent.
He did it again against Klitschko. If the man is really that good, why does he need to resort to dirty tactics to win fights? For Lewis it is about winning at all costs and while this attitude may go down well in team sport circles, it doesn’t hold up in boxing. Winning isn’t everything. It is the pursuit of winning that attracts.
Looking at opponents who would give Lewis a big pay day and a good fight, one need only look at the other sanctioning bodies’ world champions.
Chris Byrd outboxed Holyfield convincingly to win the International Boxing Federation heavyweight world title, something Lewis couldn’t do in either of his two bouts with the ring legend. Byrd is a craftsman in the ring and could well beat Lewis.
While Tyson will always have pulling power, the first Lewis-Tyson fight was not pleasant to watch and fight fans were ticked off by the non-appearance of the ‘real†Tyson.
World Boxing Organisation (WBO) champion Corrie Sanders would make an appealing match-up with Lewis, who showed the gaping holes in his defence in his last outing with the cumbersome Klitschko. The WBO champion is faster and throws heavier punches than the Ukranian and would have a real chance of stopping Lewis.
Klitschko’s younger and more talented brother, Vladimir, should also not be discounted. While he, too, is a little cumbersome, he has more power than his brother and could send Lewis to the canvas.
Perhaps Lewis is trying to garner support by saying that he’s thinking of getting out. Perhaps he believes boxing can’t survive without him.
The fact is, boxing doesn’t need him. It never did.