World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis announced his retirement from professional boxing today.
The 38-year-old Briton is only the third heavyweight after Americans Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano to retire while still the world champion.
"I would like to announce that June 21st, 2003 was my last professional fight," Lewis told a news conference in London. "It's not easy becoming heavyweight champion of the world and it's even harder to stay at the top," he said.
"I'm a person that believes if you can't give 110 per cent then you shouldn't
do it. I respect boxing a great deal and one of the reasons that
I'm retiring is because I respect it so much.
"It's time for the younger generation of boxers to have their chance. You must lose to become great. I lost and still came back and became the greatest ever."
Lewis lost just two of his 44 fights in a 14-year professional career after he won the 1988 Seoul Olympic super-heavyweight gold medal for Canada. Born in east London, he moved to Canada with his mother at the age of nine.
After signing with a British promoter, Lewis became the WBC champion by default in 1992 when American Riddick Bowe threw the belt into a dustbin. He lost the title two years later to Olivier McCall in the second round of their fight at Wembley.
In 1999 he became the undisputed champion with a unanimous points win over Evander Holyfield, then confirmed he was the best heavyweight of his era by stopping Mike Tyson in the eighth round of a one-sided fight in Memphis in June 2002.
His last fight was against Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko which he won with a sixth-round technical knockout.