Did Lennox Lewis retire prematurely?

No to your thread title question and yes to your post question. He retired a couple months short of his 39th birthday so, certainly, he didn't retire prematurely. Yes he could have had a good couple of years left .... or maybe not. It's nice to see a boxer have a full career and go out on top. While no one would wish the way Roy Jones Jr. ended his career on anyone, it's also good to see a fighter retire without the end of the career couple of losses, ala Wladimir Klitschko.

 

No

 

He was smart enough to know he was on the decline and it was only 2 years earlier where a (lesser) fighter like Rahman KOd him.

What happens when the legs are no longer the same, and you take an extra second or so to react and get out of the way of a punch?

If you look at older fighters, their legs give up first and then they become sitting ducks for younger sharper fighters

Lennox did the right thing. Retired on top, kept his money, was undisputed and got the respect of all his peers.

Imagine he got chinned after the Vitali fight and then retired....

History would be far less kind to him.

 

This.

Lennox is one of only a handful to achieve the heights he did and retire on top.

 

Nope.

perfect timing beat all he needed to.

 

Few heavyweights have retired at a better time than Lennox Lewis.
He scored one of the best, if not the best, victory in his last fight.
Compare that to the retirements of: Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Evander Holyfield, Wladimir Klitschko, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson...
I might add that the right time to retire next to Lennox Lewis was chosen by Gene Tunney.

 

Hell no.

Lennox's last amateur fight was an Olympic gold medal win over future heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer Riddick Bowe.

His last pro fight was a successful title defense against future heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer Vitali Klitschko.

Nobody else finished their amateur and pro careers on top like that going out with wins over all-time great heavyweights.

Tunney wasn't an Olympian and his last title win was against Tom Heeney. Marciano wasn't an Olympian but he did beat a Hall of Fame light heavyweight in his last defense.

Lennox set a high bar.

 

No...first few rounds against vitali he looked done and like an old man..I think it was a good call on his part....

 

37 was ancient back in the day. He knew very well from his opponents that 37 was done for.

 

Nah, he was out of shape against Tyson and both Rahman fights, the puzzle pieces for the end were already in place.

Tua was the end of his prime, and Lennox was not some type of Hopkins "age means nothing guy".

 

I don't think it's possible for a boxer to retire "prematurely" if they go out on their own terms. Lewis had nothing else to prove, and didn't owe anyone anything. If he felt that was the right time to get out after decades of fighting and a first-ballot HOF career, that's his decision and good luck to him. In the long-run he'll probably see the benefits of that as opposed to whatever else he may have gained from fighting on.

Obviously a rematch with Vitali would have been both entertaining and historically significant, and provided more closure on that chapter. It would have been nice for him to either pass the torch or to have a more conclusive win over a prime HOF fighter. However, it's not like he needed another win to legitimise what he had done over the previous decade.

It's a tough call, but I would have favoured Vitali in a rematch, and I don't see another viable route for Lewis that doesn't involve going through Vitali again. There's a scenario where Lewis wins the rematch, Vitali is shelved with injuries, and Lewis reigns over a weak division into his 40s. If he kept on fighting though, at some point he runs into a right time/right place fighter and gets toppled.

 

Nope.

 

Holyfield was coming off of impressive wins against Tyson and winning a rematch with Moorer in the run up to the Lewis fight

Holyfield didn't look lethargic at all against Rahman, Holyfield actually looked good, yet he fought Rahman after he lost to Lewis.

Lewis made Holyfield look bad because he dominated Holyfield at range. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this.

 

He retired at the right time. I think Vitali would have beat him in the rematch.