In a sport many view for its violence, Lennox Lewis said on Sunday he wanted to be remembered for making it a “sweet science, a magical dance” as he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
“Our sport is usually looked at as a brutal, savage sport,” Lennox told hundreds of fight fans gathered for the hall’s 20th annual induction ceremony. “I see it as a sweet science, a magical dance. For me, I just wanted to live up to that, and keep the dignity and the humanistic aspect and the positiveness of it ... so that people will remember that’s what I did for boxing.”
A towering presence at 196cm, 113kg, Lewis displayed a nimbleness never before seen in a fighter his size. The 43-year-old Lewis retired in 2003 with a record of 41-2-1, including 32 KOs, and entered the hall in his first year of eligibility.
Also among the 14 inductees on Sunday were American bantamweight champion Orlando Canizales and South African junior lightweight champion Brian Mitchell.
Posthumous honorees included middleweight champion William “Gorilla” Jones, welterweight champion “Mysterious” Billy Smith and middleweight champion Billy Soose in the Old-Timer Category.
Nineteenth-century American heavyweight champion Tom Hyer was recognized in the Pioneer Category.
Lewis lived in England until age 12 when his family moved to Canada. He began fighting as an amateur at age 15.
Lewis said it was because of his mother that he became interested in boxing. She would host fight parties when he was growing up.
“I didn’t really understand them at first. People would come over the house for the big fight. She would be really excited about it. I remember sitting in front of the television watching all the great fights,” Lewis said.
In 1988, Lewis won an Olympic gold medal, defeating American Riddick Bowe in the finals.
He turned pro in 1989. After winning the European, British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, Lewis won the vacant World Boxing Council title in 1992, stopping Donovan “Razor” Ruddock with a second-round TKO.
He reclaimed the crown in 1997 from Oliver McCall, avenging an earlier title loss. In 2001, Lewis seized the WBC crown for the third time by knocking out Hasim Rahman in the fourth round, avenging his only other professional loss and joining Rocky Marciano and Gene Tunney as the only heavyweights to retire with no unavenged defeats.
Two of Lewis’ most memorable bouts were with Evander Holyfield. The pair fought to a controversial draw in March 1999 in what was then the highest-grossing fight at Madison Square Garden. Lewis took a unanimous decision over Holyfield eight months later to win the WBA/IBF belts and unify the heavyweight championship.
“One wouldn’t think a 14-year-old boy who did shadow boxing in front of the mirror imitating the Muhammad Ali shuffle would actually be on this stage. I am really humble ... this is a great honor,” Lewis said.
An “outstanding” 17-year-old Chinese badminton player died of cardiac arrest after collapsing on court during a tournament in Indonesia, officials said yesterday. Zhang Zhijie was playing a match late Sunday against Japan’s Kazuma Kawano at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The score was 11-11 in the first game when Zhang fell to the floor between points. The teenager received treatment at the venue and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, but passed away later that night after repeated efforts to resuscitate him failed. “Medical conclusions ... indicated that the victim experienced sudden cardiac arrest,” Broto Happy, spokesman for
Taiwan will have two pairs vying for the women’s doubles at the Olympic Games’ tennis event in Paris as Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and her older sister Latisha Chan (詹詠然) officially clinched their third straight Olympic berth, the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association said Thursday. According to the association, the International Tennis Federation confirmed Wednesday evening the Chan sisters’ qualification for the event, meaning they will join the duo of Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Tsao Chia-yi (曹家宜) to compete in the quadrennial sports jamboree. There are 16 entries in each doubles event. Hsieh, ranked No. 2 in the world on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
ONE GAME LEFT: ‘We 100 percent believe that this is the team,’ Kagiso Rabada said when asked if this team could end South Africa’s long World Cup drought A long, tortuous World Cup title drought is closer than ever to ending for South Africa after a nine-wicket win over first-time semi-finalist Afghanistan at the global T20 World Cup cricket tournament on Wednesday. Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada set the foundations for the lopsided victory with destructive opening bursts of pace bowling to have Afghanistan reeling at 20-4 in the fourth over, and eventually all out for a paltry 56. The South Africans lost just one wicket in pursuit of its first semi-final win at a global men’s limited-overs tournament, with Reeza Hendricks hitting a six and a four on consecutive
Taiwan is to have two pairs vying for the women’s doubles at the Olympic Games’ tennis event in Paris as Chan Hao-ching and her older sister Latisha Chan officially clinched their third straight Olympic berth, the national tennis association said on Thursday. The International Tennis Federation on Wednesday evening confirmed the Chan sisters’ qualification for the event, meaning they would join the duo of Hsieh Su-wei and Tsao Chia-yi to compete in the Olympics. There are 16 entries in each doubles event. Hsieh, ranked No. 2 in the world on the Women’s Tennis Association doubles rankings as of Monday, secured her slot earlier,