Retired heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis could be headed back to a boxing ring soon.
Lewis, 55, retired as the heavyweight champion of the world back in 2003 after defeating Vitali Klitschko.
But now the UK-born boxer, who won a gold medal for Canada at the 1988 Summer Olympics, could be in the midst of considering an offer to follow in the footsteps of ex-champ Mike Tyson by pulling off his own stunning comeback to the sport he once dominated.
Lewis was asked about his own comeback plans during the telecast of the PBC on Fox boxing pay-per-view card prelims on FS2 on Saturday night. Instead of ending the speculation right there, Lewis awkwardly ducked the issue until his cohort Brian Kenny moved on to another topic.
“Mum’s the word,” Lewis said.
This comes on the heels of the fighter hinting in a recent interview that he might have “unfinished business” after seeing Tyson’s pay-per-view fight against Roy Jones Jr. last weekend.
“I mean, it seems like a lot of fun,” Lewis told Fox Sports. “…there is still some unfinished business…”.
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Is Lewis Changing Tune About Comeback?
While Lewis has stated numerous times over the years since he retired that he never wanted to come back to boxing for the wrong reason, it seems there might have been a shift in his attitude about the matter.
“I looked at the history of why boxers come back and most boxers come back because they have nothing else to do,” Lewis said.
“People keep coming up to them and saying to them, ‘Hey, when is your next fight? Who are you going to fight? But it doesn’t do better for them, it makes them look bad,” Lewis said.
“So I always elected to stay away from that.”
But Tyson’s fight against Jones just might have opened Lewis’ mind up to him being able to do the same thing or something very similar.
Lewis stopped Tyson in eight rounds in 2002.
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Who Will Lewis Fight in Comeback?
If that happens, Lewis said he might consider coming back to boxing to settle the score with ex-heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe.
Lewis beat Bowe as an amateur at the 1988 Olympics, but the two fighters never faced each other when they were both at the top of the sport as professional boxers.
In fact, Bowe famously ditched his WBC heavyweight belt after beating Evander Holyfield back in 1992 so that he didn’t have to face his next mandatory challenger, Lewis.
For Lewis, the chance to face Bowe inside a boxing ring again might be too tantalizing for him to pass up.
Like Tyson vs. Jones, who almost fought back each other back in 2003 in a superfight that never quite came together until 17 years later, Lewis might find his own second chance.
“But, if it is right, I may come back,” Lewis said. “There’s been talk of Riddick Bowe wants to fight me still so there is still some unfinished business there.”
Bowe, 53, hasn’t fought since 2008. The American was one of the best heavyweight fighters of his era. Alongside Lewis, Tyson and Holyfield, Bowe helped make the 1990s one of the deepest best divisions in heavyweight boxing history.
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Lennox Lewis Reveals ‘Unfinished Business’