Three-time heavyweight ruler Lennox Lewis has declared that one active former champion must ask himself whether he still has the fight left in him, ahead of his return to the ring and attempt at regaining the throne.
Lewis trumped Tony Tucker to become WBC heavyweight champion in 1993, defending the belt against Frank Bruno and Phil Jackson before a shock defeat to Oliver McCall brought a surprise end to both his reign and undefeated record.
However, two and a half years later, Lewis avenged that defeat to McCall to regain his belt in a peculiar fashion, as ‘The Atomic Bull’ fought with tears streaming down his face before being the referee waived off the contest.
Lewis would go on the defend the title on nine occasions, and become the undisputed champion during that time, before Hasim Rahman pulled off a huge upset in South Africa, only for Lewis to avenge his loss once again and do so with a sensational knockout.
Wins over Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko brought Lewis’ career to a close and to this day ‘The Lion’ is recognised as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, having defeated every opponent of his career.
More recently, Deontay Wilder has emerged as one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history, but his downturn in form in recent years has left fans questioning whether the former WBC champion should hang up the gloves.
Speaking to FightHub, Lewis explained that only Wilder will truly know if he still has the drive to succeed in the sport, but advised ‘The Bronze Bomber’ that he should be asking himself that question, based off recent performances.
“I am not the one that should feel that, he should ask that to himself, has he got the fight left in him?
“He must have the fight left in him, because he is fighting, although, his manager and his trainer are not there anymore, he has got a new team. This is how he feels he needs to run his life, and it is his life.
“I always say that, it’s your life, so you can do what you want to do. I can tell you the right thing [to do], but you don’t have to listen to me.”
Wilder returns to action against Derek Chisora on Saturday, April 4, where victory may well tee up a shot at Oleksandr Usyk and the unified heavyweight title.
