Professional Boxing Career
Having achieved that goal, Lewis declared himself a professional boxer and moved back to his native England. He claimed he'd always considered himself British, but many British fans regard him as "a Canadian at heart and a Briton for convenience," as he had trained only in Canada and the United States and already lived half his life in North America.
He signed with the boxing promoter Frank Maloney and the early part of his pro career was filled with knockouts of journeymen. After he signed with American promoter Main Events he captured the European heavyweight title late in 1990 against Frenchman Jean Maurice Chanet. In his next fight in March 1991, Lewis won the British title against the undefeated world ranked Gary Mason, then won the Commonwealth title in April 1992 against Derek Williams.
By this time, Lewis was a consensus top-five heavyweight in the world. During this period Lewis defeated former WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver, 1984 Olympic Gold medalist Tyrell Biggs, former world cruiserweight title holders Glenn McCrory and Osvaldo Ocasio, and journeymen Levi Billups and Mike Dixon.
Read more about this topic: Lennox Lewis
Famous quotes containing the words professional, boxing and/or career:
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
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