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In Rusty's Corner - Lennox Lewis To Retire
Written By: Boxing Insider - 02.05.2004 02:18 AM
By Rusty Rubin, managing editor, Ringsports.com
Lennox Lewis to announce retirement Friday
A phone call from the BBC in London, confirmed what I had felt all along, that Lennox Lewis is going out on top. His retirement announcement will come on Friday.
Lewis, 38, is widely regarded as the heavyweight champion of the world. But Lewis, showed, as have so many over the years, that as you grow older, it's harder and harder to take time off and get into fighting shape. It's part of being human, and unless you're a specimen like George Foreman, almost everyone goes through it.
It's hard to gauge how great a champion Lewis was, because he didn't fight in an era of great heavyweights. Truth be told, most of the heavyweights around today couldn't compete against the better fighters of the past, let alone the champions.
But you can't hold the lack of competition against the Big Brit. It's not his fault that he came along at a time when there was little opposition, but the fact that he did makes it difficult to determine just how history will judge him.
His two losses came more from taking his opponents lightly then from the opponents themselves. Many folks say his chin was like his name, Lennox (china), but that was never really proven.
His losses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman were both caused by big punches which landed flush on the chin, and probably would have caused problems to even the strongest chinned heavyweights.
But like much of what happens with boxing, his retirement probably causes more questions then answers.
Who will be the heir apparent to Lewis' throne? Is there any bright spot on the heavyweight horizon? Except for an aging, and over the hill Mike Tyson, can anyone create any excitement among the big men?
And sadly, in my opinion, the answer is a resounding NO! The heavyweight division which was in shambles before Lewis' announcement, can only get worse. At least until we see what's available in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and at least as far as the USA is concerned, I don't see a lot.
Written By: Boxing Insider - 02.05.2004 02:18 AM
By Rusty Rubin, managing editor, Ringsports.com
Lennox Lewis to announce retirement Friday
A phone call from the BBC in London, confirmed what I had felt all along, that Lennox Lewis is going out on top. His retirement announcement will come on Friday.
Lewis, 38, is widely regarded as the heavyweight champion of the world. But Lewis, showed, as have so many over the years, that as you grow older, it's harder and harder to take time off and get into fighting shape. It's part of being human, and unless you're a specimen like George Foreman, almost everyone goes through it.
It's hard to gauge how great a champion Lewis was, because he didn't fight in an era of great heavyweights. Truth be told, most of the heavyweights around today couldn't compete against the better fighters of the past, let alone the champions.
But you can't hold the lack of competition against the Big Brit. It's not his fault that he came along at a time when there was little opposition, but the fact that he did makes it difficult to determine just how history will judge him.
His two losses came more from taking his opponents lightly then from the opponents themselves. Many folks say his chin was like his name, Lennox (china), but that was never really proven.
His losses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman were both caused by big punches which landed flush on the chin, and probably would have caused problems to even the strongest chinned heavyweights.
But like much of what happens with boxing, his retirement probably causes more questions then answers.
Who will be the heir apparent to Lewis' throne? Is there any bright spot on the heavyweight horizon? Except for an aging, and over the hill Mike Tyson, can anyone create any excitement among the big men?
And sadly, in my opinion, the answer is a resounding NO! The heavyweight division which was in shambles before Lewis' announcement, can only get worse. At least until we see what's available in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and at least as far as the USA is concerned, I don't see a lot.
