Lewis, Lennox (1965-…), became the first British world heavyweight boxing champion of the 1900’s. The World Boxing Council (WBC) declared Lewis its champion after Riddick Bowe of the United States vacated the WBC title in December 1992. Lewis made a number of successful defenses of the title until he was defeated by Oliver McCall in 1994. Lewis held the WBC title again from 1997 to April 2001, when he was defeated by Hasim Rahman in a major upset. Lewis regained his title by defeating Rahman in a return match in November 2001. Lewis remained the WBC champion until he retired in 2004.
Lewis was born on Sept. 2, 1965, in Stratford, east London, but settled in Canada in 1977. He boxed twice for Canada at the Olympic Games, winning the super heavyweight title in 1988. Later that year, he returned to the United Kingdom to become a professional boxer. He became European heavyweight champion in October 1990, and subsequently the WBC’s number one challenger.
