BoxRec

this si the fight boxing needs

If Vitali beats Lewis handily, the public will start to recognise him as the heavyweight champ. If Lewis wins (won't be a blow out), Vitali will lose with courage and keep face.

Good fight. I would root for Lennyboy.

And if Lewis won, and then retired again, that basically means he rubbishes the entire division, and everyone left behind is competing in a meaningless division because the best guy in the world was a 40 year old retired champion.

If Lewis did come back i would lose all that respect that i show for him, i always thought Lewis was a man of his word and have looked up to him for several years, if he did come back he would be going against his word and could jepridise the legacy he has

Well Lewis has issued a denial this morning I see, but he's gonna be hard pressed to say no to 20 odd mill.
In fact, you'd have to be slightly mad to turn down that sort of cash. He's rich today - but he's probably looking at someone like Tyson and thinking about how fast it can all go wrong.....

I mean, who knows what he has in mind - donate 10 million to a charity maybe ( ho ho ) or buy 2 or 3 islands for his various family, friends and future generations.

It's very likely the worse that can happen is he'll get KO'd by Vitali - and everyone will say well he was too old anyway ( see Louis, Leonard, Ali, Duran and all the rest of em ) But money like that will certainly ease the pain.

I don't know about those figures. Vitali isn't a PPV draw, and neither is Lewis, and those figures surpass even the figures for Lewis v Tyson, and I don't see the fight being as big as that one.

Maybe that was Lewis' way of telling them they need to pay him £21million to get him back in the ring....

MightyWarrior wrote:Well Lewis has issued a denial this morning I see, but he's gonna be hard pressed to say no to 20 odd mill.
In fact, you'd have to be slightly mad to turn down that sort of cash. He's rich today - but he's probably looking at someone like Tyson and thinking about how fast it can all go wrong.....

I mean, who knows what he has in mind - donate 10 million to a charity maybe ( ho ho ) or buy 2 or 3 islands for his various family, friends and future generations.

It's very likely the worse that can happen is he'll get KO'd by Vitali - and everyone will say well he was too old anyway ( see Louis, Leonard, Ali, Duran and all the rest of em ) But money like that will certainly ease the pain.

I have heard rumours he has Tax problems (this often seems to happen to fighters - they need to hire accountants.)

If they fight, my money would be on Vitali and for the good of boxing I would want him to win. I never warmed to Lennox....

It amuses me how people root for him because he is supposedly 'British'... He is about as British as Bin Laden...

Bin Laden grew up in England, he went to school here as a young man.

Not tax problems, thought it was something to do with huge legal fees. Lewis has been in and out of litigation for the last decade, and I believe his court case with Panos Eliades is still going on from what I read in the book.

The thing is that the heavyweight champion of the world's outgoings are usually pretty vast, what with the vast retinue of hangers on which Lewis had, a few maybe bad business decisions, bit of back tax, and an extravagant lifestyle (he spent 250k on a birthday part at the mayfair club last year), money can dissapear pretty quick. Unlike Tyson, Lewis didn't have a huge payday for every single fight he had.

E wrote:
If they fight, my money would be on Vitali and for the good of boxing I would want him to win. I never warmed to Lennox....

It amuses me how people root for him because he is supposedly 'British'... He is about as British as Bin Laden...

Of course he is. You intelligent person.

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

E wrote:
If they fight, my money would be on Vitali and for the good of boxing I would want him to win. I never warmed to Lennox....

It amuses me how people root for him because he is supposedly 'British'... He is about as British as Bin Laden...

Of course he is. You intelligent person.

Jesus was born in a stable - but does that make him a horse?

What is your definition of being 'British' then???

Ahh the old BNP argument is it....

What's the definition of British then? Lewis was born in East Ham, London, and lived here until he was 7. He is as much English as he is Canadian and Jamaican. He has always described himself as being 'trinationa' which is why his team jackets had all three flags on them.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Ahh the old BNP argument is it....

What's the definition of British then? Lewis was born in East Ham, London, and lived here until he was 7. He is as much English as he is Canadian and Jamaican. He has always described himself as being 'trinationa' which is why his team jackets had all three flags on them.

What has the BNP got to do with it?????

Frank Bruno, Danny Williams, I regard as British as they live here and call themselves British....

Lewis fought for Canada in the Olympics, and as you point out considers himself as from 3 countries, hasn't lived here since he was 7, which doesn't make a very good qualification for being a Brit.

I wouldn't consider Rusedski or Zola Budd British either.

I would appreciate it if you kept your racist inferences out of this - it has nothing to do with my argument.

If you are born in the UK you can call yourself British if you want to.

E wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Ahh the old BNP argument is it....

What's the definition of British then? Lewis was born in East Ham, London, and lived here until he was 7. He is as much English as he is Canadian and Jamaican. He has always described himself as being 'trinationa' which is why his team jackets had all three flags on them.

What has the BNP got to do with it?????

Frank Bruno, Danny Williams, I regard as British as they live here and call themselves British....

Lewis fought for Canada in the Olympics, and as you point out considers himself as from 3 countries, hasn't lived here since he was 7, which doesn't make a very good qualification for being a Brit.

I wouldn't consider Rusedski or Zola Budd British either.

I would appreciate it if you kept your racist inferences out of this - it has nothing to do with my argument.

That is the old BNP line, "just because a dog is born in a stable, doesn't make it a horse" Wasn't saying

Unlike Zola Budd and Greg Rusedszki, Lewis was born and spent for first 7 years of his life in this country.

Gregory Rusedski was born on the 6th of September 1973 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

His mother, Helen was an Englishwoman who left her native town of Dewsbury, Yorkshire with her parents at the age of four to go and live in Canada.

His father, Tom, a railway worker, was originally German, with Polish-Ukranian parents, hence the Polish surname of Rusedski.

Ruzedski didn't start playing tennis for the UK until 1995, when he requested that he be listed as a GB player.

Budd was born and raised in South Africa, and only came here because the British athletcis association sponsored her application for nationality because they thought she would be a lock for medal success...hardly quite the same thing.

it was actually 11 /12 he was here til and he went to canada with his mother who emigrated to give them a better life in Canada as Lennox was in trouble at secondary school, it wasnt his choice, after winning the gold he returned to Britain and spent most of his early career here, so if you look at Lennox's life he has spent more time as a resident of the UK than anywhere else by far. Certainly than the two nations you are referring too, theres a line of thought that says he is Jamaican cos his parents are and that holds water also, he isnyt in any way Candian in my book though anymore than he is american cos he spends a lot of his time there now.

So Anthony Hopkins the actor lives soley in LA now is he american , no he is fornicating welsh.

Secondly Lennox was born here, Budd and Rusedski werent. Your argument is non existent Im afraid.

the fact that you dont consider him british doesnt mean fornicate all, he was born here which means he is as British as British can be that tells the story.


of course theres no way that we are able to change your mind but thats up to you, to me you just sound like my old man and I find it laughable these discussions still go on.

he is born in Britain, Canada belongs to the Commonwealth and IMO Jamaica as well. so what? he is british.

Foggy wrote:If Lewis did come back i would lose all that respect that i show for him, i always thought Lewis was a man of his word and have looked up to him for several years, if he did come back he would be going against his word and could jepridise the legacy he has

If you lose all respect for people who don't keep their work, you must not respect most british boxers.

Well, I guess deciding someone's 'nationality' is a complex one. But I think the best pointer is what that individual actually feels.

And I've yet to be convinced that Lewis really feels more British than Canadian or Jamaican.

Anyway it is rather irrelevant - I am not mad keen on Lewis' personality, it is not so much where he comes from.

I support individual fighters for who they are, not just what country they are from.

Same here. I don't follow fighters because of nationality. I will be pleased if Eastman beats hopkins, but I recognisde that Hopkins is a great fighter, and I will not be crushed if he wins. I actually rooted for Rahman the first time he fought Lewis, because I heard how lightly Lewis was taking the whole thing.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Same here. I don't follow fighters because of nationality. I will be pleased if Eastman beats hopkins, but I recognisde that Hopkins is a great fighter, and I will not be crushed if he wins. I actually rooted for Rahman the first time he fought Lewis, because I heard how lightly Lewis was taking the whole thing.

Yeah, I guess the difference between boxing and say team sports like football etc, is that fighters are individuals and all so different, it doesn't matter so much where they are from, but what their personality and fighting style is like.

The reason I find myself sticking up for Lewis, is that he endured lots of criticism, accusating of being gay, and was criticised because he simply wasn't American, a lot of American fans would say highly incisive things like. "Yeah, Lennox is a fag, you only have to listen to his stupid british accent to know he's a faggot."

This despite the fact that their Hero Tyson lisps like a 5 year old, and has made many homoerotic remarks, such as wanting to kiss Razor Ruddock 'on those big lips of yours.'

I believe Lewis conducted himself with a great deal of dignity on the whole, and had he been a little more accessible toi the press, perhaps things would have been different.

I've never understood the obcession some fans have with fighters sexuality to be honest.

I mean lets face it, does it really matter? A lot of the comments still being made about Lennox Lewis's sexuality (such as on the Current Scene Forum) is just so imature, boring and totally irrelevant to his abiliy as a Boxer.