[a] Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship,[2] Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, winning the super-heavyweight gold medal in 1988.

[3][4] In his first three years as a professional, Lewis won several regional heavyweight championships, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles.

After winning his first 21 fights, he defeated Donovan Ruddock in 1992 to take over the number one position in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings.

"[29] Lewis signed with boxing promoter Frank Maloney and his early professional career was filled with knockouts of journeymen, as well as fighters such as Osvaldo Ocasio.

After he signed with American promoter Main Events,[citation needed] he won the European heavyweight title in 1990 against Frenchman Jean Maurice Chanet.

Bowe held a press conference during which he threw his WBC title belt in a rubbish bin, relinquishing it to avoid a mandatory defence against Lewis.

The Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno fight was the first time two British-born boxers fought for a version of the world heavyweight title in the modern era.

Referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia felt Lewis was unable to continue and ended the fight, giving McCall the title by technical knockout.

However, at the behest of promoter Don King,[citation needed] the WBC bypassed him and gave Mike Tyson the first chance at the title recently won by Briton Frank Bruno from Oliver McCall.

Lewis had the number 1 contender's slot in the WBC rankings when he knocked out Australian Justin Fortune, then defeated former WBO Champion Tommy Morrison in October 1995, winning the minor IBC title.

[35] On 13 March 1999, Lewis faced WBA and IBF title holder Evander Holyfield in New York City in what was supposed to be a heavyweight unification bout.

[38] Eight months later in Las Vegas (13 November 1999), the two men fought again in a more open and entertaining contest than the original fight, with the two boxers having some heavy exchanges from rounds six to nine.

Opposed to this, King challenged this decision in court on the basis of a clause in the Lewis-Holyfield rematch contract that said Lewis's first bout as undisputed champion would be against the WBA's number one contender.

He successfully defended his WBC, IBO and IBF titles against Grant with a second-round knockout victory in Madison Square Garden in April 2000.

Later that same year, Lewis knocked out South African Francois Botha in two rounds in London, before winning a 12-round decision against New Zealander and IBF mandatory opponent, David Tua in Las Vegas.

The main event actually took place on Sunday 22 April 2001 at 05:00 local time[42] in order to accommodate HBOs significant United States–based audience at a reasonable hour on the Saturday night.

Lewis immediately sought a rematch with the new champion; Rahman, however, now being promoted by Don King, tried to secure another opponent for his inaugural title defence.

While promoting the rematch with Rahman on ESPN's Up Close, the fighters got into a brawl[43] similar to the one between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in front of Howard Cosell on Wide World of Sports.

Ticket sales were slow because they were priced as high as US$2,400, but a crowd of 15,327 turned up to see boxing's then biggest event at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee.

Tyson also had to pay Lewis $335,000 out of his purse for biting him at the news conference announcing the fight, which was originally scheduled for 6 April 2002 in Las Vegas.

With both fighters looking tired before the start of round seven, the doctor advised that the fight should be stopped because of a severe cut above Klitschko's left eye, awarding Lewis victory by TKO.

[47] Interviewed about the fight by HBO, doctor Paul Wallace explained his decision: When he raised his head up, his upper eyelid covered his field of vision.

Lewis announced his retirement shortly thereafter in February 2004, to pursue other interests, including sports management and music promotion, and vacated the title.

His jab, which was often a pawing shot early in his career, became a formidable weapon under the tutelage of Emmanuel Steward, which Lewis used to set up his signature punch, the straight right hand.

Although three fighters have since repeated this feat (Herbie Hide, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua), only Lewis also won the Lonsdale belt outright.

While struggling to achieve popularity and respect earlier in his professional career, Lewis's standing has increased since his retirement in 2003, and he is now considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

Struggling to win the affection of the British public and facing indifference from an American audience, Lewis's body of work eventually established him as the dominant heavyweight of his time.

In 2001, Lewis became the fourth boxer (after Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer) to have held the world heavyweight championship on three occasions.

Along with Ingemar Johansson and Rocky Marciano, Lewis is one of three world heavyweight champions to have retired with victories over every opponent he faced as a professional.

[64] In 2024, Lewis joined fellow London boxers – Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, and Chris Eubank – for a mini documentary, Four Kings.