BORN in Stratford, east London, England on 2 September 1965, Lennox Claudius Lewis was the second son of Violet Lewis. She had moved to London from her native Jamaica nine years earlier in search of a better life. Lennox and his older brother Dennis were born to two separate fathers and Violet decided to bring up her boys alone. As a single parent who also held down a nursing job at East Ham General Hospital, times were hard. Later, it was agreed that to ease Violet’s burden Dennis would go and live with his father whilst Lennox remained with her.
Violet eventually travelled to America, where she spent a year in Chicago. Although many of her friends from Jamaica had settled there she did not qualify for a green card, which meant she was unable to work legally in the United States. As a result, she found it difficult to make any sort of life for herself. When she received news that Lennox, who had remained in London with his aunt Gee, had got into trouble fighting at school, she left Chicago and returned to London.
Later, Violet decided to leave England for a second time and try her luck in Kitchener, a manufacturing city in Ontario, Canada. On this occasion, though, she took the young Lennox with her.
Initially, things went well. Violet found a job in a factory, although her immigrant status meant she was forced to pay the full fees for Lennox’s schooling. Combined with other factors, it became a struggle to get by.
It was decided that Lennox, who was still only seven and had only been in Canada for six months, should return to his aunt Gee in London until his mother got on her feet. He could then rejoin her in Kitchener, a place he loved.
Lennox’s return took longer than expected. He spent five years in England, during which time he was forced to attend two separate boarding establishments for children considered unruly and troublesome. But Lennox also re-established his relationship with his brother and finally, at the age of 12, with his mother settled in Kitchener, he was reunited with her.
Upon his return to Canada, Lennox became friendly with a boy named Andrew Powis and with him began boxing at the Waterloo Police Boxing Association Gymnasium, run by a sergeant called Jerome McComb.
Eventually, Lennox was trained by a man named Arnie Boehm and under his guidance he became a skilful amateur boxer. Not only was Lennox naturally talented, he was also extremely dedicated. He never shirked training and was always willing to listen and learn.
He was later helped in his amateur career by a Romanian-born coach named Adrian Teodorescu, who was initially appointed as coach to the Canadian national boxing team before subsequently being promoted to head coach for the Canadian Seoul Olympic squad.
Lennox would eventually go on to enjoy a successful unpaid career, which saw him become the most celebrated fighter in the country’s amateur boxing history.
In November 1983, the then 18-year-old Lennox travelled to San Domingo in the Dominican Republic to take gold at the World Junior Championships. The following year, Lennox also represented Canada in the super-heavyweight division at the Los Angeles Olympics, going out in the second round to eventual winner Tyrell Biggs (who he later beat as a professional).
Although Lennox was already being tempted by hefty financial offers to turn professional, he resisted the lure of money and instead set his sights on gold-medal glory at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
After winning his first senior title at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland in July 1986, Lennox’s Olympic dream became a reality.
Having comfortably negotiated the early rounds in Seoul, Lennox was given a bye straight into the final when his semi-final opponent, a Pole named Janusz Zarenkiewicz, withdrew with a broken hand.
In the final, Lewis met the young American Riddick Bowe, who hailed from the same Brownsville district as Mike Tyson and prior to the Games had been declared a nailed-on favourite to win gold.
But Lewis cared little for reputations. In the second round, Lewis overwhelmed Bowe, forcing two counts and stopping the favourite on his feet. Lennox Lewis had arrived. Not only had he capped his already-impressive amateur career by becoming an Olympic champion, but the time was now right for him to capitalise on his success by turning professional.