I AM fortunate to have rubbed shoulders with some highly successful people. I knew Lennox Lewis before he became a professional boxer. I was the first journalist in the UK to write a long, deep article about him. I still remember Lennox coming up to me (in Cardiff of all places) after it was published and telling me how surprised he was by how thorough I’d been in my research. I’d unearthed a knockout defeat he’d had as an amateur that few people knew about.
I was literally on the road with Lewis from the start of his pro career. I followed him nearly everywhere. This picture was taken in Atlantic City in 1989. Muhammad Ali’s brother, Rahman, is between us.
Lennox was having his second fight a few days later. Mike Tyson had top billing. One day on that trip I got up at the crack of dawn to go running with Lewis in the Catskills in New York, where he trained. I conducted most of my interview with Lewis in the back of a van en route to A. City. Lennox and I hung out a bit while there. We did ordinary things like shopping and grab a bite to eat and just stroll around chatting. He was like anyone else…except he had an Olympic gold medal and stood out a bit at 6ft 5in.
As he became more successful, he still always had time to say hello, even when he was in his pomp as world champ and in demand. We bumped into each other in various and random locations. Once I shared a commentary job with him for Channel Five in Las Vegas when Evander Holyfield fought Michael Moorer. I have Reg Gutteridge to thank for that opportunity. Good memories for me.
Lewis was/is a good guy. He gave me exclusive privileges and, I trust, respected that I’d always be honest and fair. As a writer, I was never one for playing I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine. Integrity meant everything.
I respect Lennox, especially for how he ended his career on a high. That’s the toughest part of being a successful professional boxer.
I look at Lennox now, having watched him up close from start to finish, and always think, ‘he did really well for himself’.