LONDON, 7 February 2004 — World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis retired from professional boxing yesterday with dignity, grace and a heartfelt tribute to the family and friends who helped him reach the pinnacle of his sport.
The 38-year-old Briton is only the third heavyweight after Americans Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano to retire while still the world champion. Tunney retired in 1928 and Marciano in 1956.
“I would like to announce that June 21, 2003 was my last professional fight,” Lewis told a news conference.
“I’m proud to have returned the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world to England, a nation with an historic boxing tradition and to have been the first heavyweight champion from England since Bob Fitzsimmons more than a century ago.”
