Lennox Lewis headlined the 2009 International Boxing Hall of Fame induction class announced on Tuesday and will enter in the modern era category, along with American bantamweight champion Orlando Canizales and South African junior lightweight champion Brian Mitchell.
Three-time heavyweight champion Lewis said he was proud that enshrinement in the Hall of Fame would secure his place in the sport’s history.
“Everybody, when they start something ... always wants to leave some kind of legacy behind,” Lewis said. “I’ve been able to accomplish that. To be put in the Hall of Fame is an accomplishment that seals my legacy. It will always be there in history. People can read about it. It gives me great pride.”
PHOTO: AP
Posthumous honorees included middleweight champion William “Gorilla” Jones (1931-1932), welterweight champion “Mysterious” Billy Smith (1890s) and middleweight champion Billy Soose (1941) in the old-timer category. Nineteenth-century American heavyweight champion Tom Hyer was recognized in the pioneer category.
Inductees were voted in by members of the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians. The induction ceremony will be held on June 14 at Canastota.
The 43-year-old Lewis retired in 2003 with a record of 41-2-1, including 32 KOs, and enters the hall in his first year of eligibility.
“He definitely belongs in the top six heavyweights of all time and would have been a threat to any heavyweight champion in history because of his size, his balance and his all-around skill,” said Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, a 1996 inductee. “Lennox Lewis could do whatever he had to do to win a fight. He was a very diversified heavyweight champion.”
Mitchell is the first South African boxer to be inducted in Canastota.
He won the WBA junior lightweight title in September 1986 with a 10th-round TKO of Alfredo Layne and defended his crown 12 consecutive times before he was stripped of it in 1991. He won the IBF championship later in 1991 with a 12-round win over Tony “The Tiger” Lopez.
Mitchell finished his career 45-1-3 with 21 KOs.
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