The name Lennox Lewis sits firmly in the history books of boxing.
Three-time heavyweight champion, the last man to claim undisputed in the division, and a record that has the likes of Ray Mercer, Hasim Rahman, Mike Tyson, and Evander Holyfield. There’s no question ‘The Lion’ is one of the greats.
Speaking to Seconds Out, he revealed what he believed Tyson Fury – current WBC Heavyweight Champion – must do to go down in history in a similar way.
“I believe that obviously he has to be undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. If he chooses, he can clean up the division and box the other heavyweights that are out there. But I think the first thing is getting the undisputed heavyweight [championship] of the world.”
Lewis then used his own campaign to make a point about Fury’s. He faced Mike Tyson in 2002 in what would be the penultimate fight of his career. It was one fans had demanded.
“Yeah. That was what I did. I basically boxed [Mike] Tyson, which was my foe at the time, and this is the fight that the whole world wanted to see the outcome of. I couldn’t retire without having that fight under my belt. For Tyson Fury, he can’t retire without boxing Usyk. And, if he wanted to clean up the division, then there’s other guys that are in his era that he needs to clean up.
Other than an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk, which is reportedly targeted for March next year, many fans feel like ‘The Gypsy King’s professional career will feel unfinished should he not box Anthony Joshua.
Other than that, there are the likes of Andy Ruiz Jr and Joe Joyce – one former champion and someone who’s now knocking on the door quite heavily.
In a recent u-turn from brief retirement, Fury says he wants to have a busy year next year. Fans, and Lewis, will hope that he faces the best to cement his legacy – albeit one he says he doesn’t care about.