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kenyan_cheena · 11-02-2004, 08:16 PM

Monday 10 December 2001

English-born Canadian Lennox Lewis, the man who stopped Riddick Bowe
in the 2nd round to win the Super Heavyweight gold medal at the
2000 Sydney Olympics, has officially announced that he will be joining
the professional ranks.

Lewis spoke to directors of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation and arranged
medical and physical examinations, which he passed.

There was some surprise amongst boxing commentators
when Lewis did not participate in the HBF's
World Championship tournament auditions in October,
but it has recently been revealed that a serious illness
in his family prevented Lewis from making the trip to New York.

Lewis has said that he would like to make his professional debut in
February, on one of the fight cards that the HBF will be running
separately from their championship tournament.

The announcement has led to speculation and anticipation for a possible
rematch between Lewis and Bowe, who is the #5 seed in the HBF's
World Championship tournament.

When questioned about such a possibility, Lewis said that he had not
considered it.

"I believe the tournament is going to take almost two years to complete,"
he said. "I'm pretty sure that Riddick Bowe will be heavily involved in
determining the outcome, so there's no reason for me to even think about
fighting him at the moment. I just have to get ready for my first fight,
like everybody else."

11-02-2004, 08:16 PM	#9 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 4,423	Monday 10 December 2001 English-born Canadian Lennox Lewis, the man who stopped Riddick Bowe in the 2nd round to win the Super Heavyweight gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has officially announced that he will be joining the professional ranks. Lewis spoke to directors of the Heavyweight Boxing Federation and arranged medical and physical examinations, which he passed. There was some surprise amongst boxing commentators when Lewis did not participate in the HBF's World Championship tournament auditions in October, but it has recently been revealed that a serious illness in his family prevented Lewis from making the trip to New York. Lewis has said that he would like to make his professional debut in February, on one of the fight cards that the HBF will be running separately from their championship tournament. The announcement has led to speculation and anticipation for a possible rematch between Lewis and Bowe, who is the #5 seed in the HBF's World Championship tournament. When questioned about such a possibility, Lewis said that he had not considered it. "I believe the tournament is going to take almost two years to complete," he said. "I'm pretty sure that Riddick Bowe will be heavily involved in determining the outcome, so there's no reason for me to even think about fighting him at the moment. I just have to get ready for my first fight, like everybody else." Last edited by kenyan_cheena : 04-28-2005 at 10:49 PM.