Lennox Lewis paid his dues to become an ATG.

I made a thread like this before, but unfortunately it's now gone due to the recent message board crash. And I feel it's necessary that I make it again since people STILL have forgotten what Lennox Lewis has accomplished in his career. This isn't going to be a word for word essay of my other post on this, but I'll do my best to make it as similar as possible.

Enjoy..


Upon the arrival of Lennox Lewis in the pro ranks, he was greeted with the usual hype that a gold medal winning prospect normally is, and he more than lived up to this hype with impressive victories over leading contenders such as Donovan " Razor " Ruddock, whom Lewis shockingly stopped inside of only two rounds. Such a win would have set himself up for a fight with olympic rival, and the then-current WBC champion, and undisputed champion Riddick Bowe. Unfortunately such a fight would never see the light of day as Riddick Bowe, whom had other interests in mind, decided to vacate the WBC belt, the title which Lewis was the leading contender for. So instead he met another leading contender, Tony Tucker, defeating him convingly in route to a unanimous decision, and taking the WBC title with him as well.

For his first defense, he challenged fellow Englishman, Frank Bruno. It was a tough battle which saw Lewis stopping Bruno in the seventh round of the fight. Things were looking up for Lennox Lewis at this point, there was even talk about a possible unification, but then fate struck in his fight with the iron-chinned Oliver McCall, a fight in which Oliver McCall proved to be much more ring-savvy than anyone could've expected. The first round was spent with each fighter feeling one another out, but by the beginning of the second round McCall's expectations proved successful as he countered the right hand of Lewis with a right hand of his own, which landed right on the chin of Lewis. Although Lennox Lewis had beaten the count, he was deemed unable to continue by the referee making Oliver McCall the new WBC title in a shocking upset. Lewis was now left to pick up the pieces of his career from a loss which would've been career ending for most other fighters.

Lewis then began the process of rejuvenating his standing in the division with four wins, one of these wins being a sixth round stoppage over Tommy Morrison, and another being a close, hard-fought battle with Ray Mercer. And finally, two years since his loss to McCall, the opportunity for revenge, as well as the opportunity to recover the WBC championship finally came up. Unfortunately for Lewis he met McCall at the bottom of a downward spiral, which saw McCall refusing to defend himself and even crying at one point which forced referee Mills Lane to stop the fight. Lewis had won his belt back, but the less than satisfying revenge win still left him in the shadow of the defeat.

And so Lennox Lewis, once again the WBC champion, continued the process of proving his worth by challenging the highly-praised, and soon to be exposed Andrew Golota. This would prove to be a turning point in Lewis' career as he impressively stopped Golota in only the first round. His next challenge was against Shannon Briggs. It started off competitive with Briggs seemingly having Lewis in trouble, but Lewis had no trouble regaining his senses, and systematically breaking Shannon down, knocking him down three times, and finishing him off in the fifth. After stopping Briggs he then challenged the unproven, yet surprisingly tough Zeljko Mavrovic. Lewis took a unanimous decision in what turned out to be one of the more competitive battles in his career.

And finally.. after spending years reviving his career, the chance of unification finally arrived when he challenged Evander Holyfield. The first fight between the two proved to be controversial, with the results of what many seen as a winning effort for Lewis turning out to be a draw. A rematch was set up that very same year, with Lewis finally achieving what many thought he'd already achieved in the first fight.... the win, plus undisputed status as heavyweight champion. Now as champion, Lewis defended his title frequently, beginning with the leading contender Michael Grant, whom Lewis viciously stopped inside of two rounds. That very same year would also see him stop Francois Botha in the same duration, and finally ending the year with a decision win over heavy-hitting David Tua. Fate had then struck again the following year in the form of Hasim Rahman. Although Lewis was unprepared for the fight, he was still managing to out-point Rahman until being caught with a huge right hand which knocked Lewis out for the full count, making Rahman the new heavyweight champion. Lewis, never one to let a set-back get in the way of his goals, challenged Rahman yet again, only this time Lewis would be the one left standing, as he'd executed one of the most vicious knock-outs caught on film.. a devastating left-right combo which bounced of Rahman's chin as if it was a heavy-bag. Lewis was once again.. heavyweight champion with a fourth round stoppage over his previous successor.

The biggest fight of Lewis' career came next, and finally.. after years of pressure from the boxing industry, the two past-their-prime heavyweight kings finally mixed it up in Memphis, TN, a fight which saw Lewis lay down a one-sided beating over Mike Tyson before stopping him in the eighth. Lewis' thirst for blood had seemingly been quenched, but after more than a year away from the ring, he continued on half-heartedly, challenging the surprisingly game Vitali Klitschko. Vitali would turn out to be a bigger handful than expected as Lewis found his will and his chin being tested time and time again. As the fight progressed Lewis was beginning to regain his ground in the fight, but before either man could come out for the seventh round, the doctor deemed Vitali unable to continue due to a horrible cut over his left eye, giving Lewis the win by a 6th round stoppage.


In conclusion.... Lewis didn't have a manager or promoter who just threw opportunities in his direction, he achieved these opportunities through hard work, dedication, and conviction. :good

 

What fighter doesn't have a deficiency?

 

What's only an opinion? Everything I've stated is factual.

Edit: Nevermind, I read that wrong, I see you were stating you own opinion.

 

That seems to be the only thing people like to dwell on. I've heard some even go far as to call him a " paper champ " as a result.