Sometimes life isn’t always about the money.
In today’s larger-than-life world of sports, the idea of love for the game can get lost. Dollar signs became the mark of respect and greatness, replacing the sweat, scrapes and bruises which once were badges of honor. Players’ hearts become obsessed with greed, performing their services for the highest bidder, showing no loyalty to fans, friends, teammates … or even themselves.
One needs look no further than the boxing ring to find an ample number of such individuals. Which is why in a sport known for its ruthlessness, silly pride and large paydays it’s reassuring to find one man to stand above the greed of his sport. Thank you Lennox Lewis.
As a sports enthusiast, I must admit, I’ve never found a love for the sport of boxing. As a child, like many in America, I learned to love America’s pastime, even if the Brewers stunk. I spent hours throwing around a soft Nerf football pretending I would play for the Packers one day, even when the Packers’ lone claim to fame was the play of Don “The Majik Man” Majkowski.
Basketball, Hockey ditto on both of these sports. As I grew up I gained respect for other pastimes like tennis, golf and trick shot pool (Mike Massey is the man.). I’ve even found myself swallowed up in the recent poker craze (Yes, I know it’s not a sport. But hey, it’s on ESPN.) But watching two grown mean beat the living crap out of each other, well … I just never got it.
Despite my lacking enthusiasm for boxing, I can still appreciate the athlete, the personality and the man. This is why I would like to thank Lennox Lewis, not because he has a heartwarming story in the Rocky mold, but because he has shown the grace to leave his sport at the top of his game. Too often in boxing fighters sacrifice their legacy and health by returning to the ring well past their prime, for nothing more than money and pride.
Over the weekend it was reported by a British newspaper that the 39-year-old former heavyweight champion was looking at a possible comeback. The newspaper also reported the match would be against current World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.
Lewis defeated Klitschko in June 2003, the final match of his career, after Klitschko was forced to stop the fight because of several severe cuts he had suffered. The Ukrainian had been beating Lewis in points when the match was called.
“I boxed professionally for many years and there will always be an attraction to the sport but I am not returning to the ring,” Lewis said in a statement yesterday. “The recent attraction given to the possibility of a comeback is flattering and evidences the public’s desire for someone to establish a legacy similar to the one I left behind as the true heavyweight champion of the world.”
Undoubtedly this is the right call for Lewis. Many a great boxer have found themselves ridiculed in the public eye as they churn forward in a career that has long since passed them by. Here are a few examples:
In 1999 Evander Holyfield lost the WBC heavyweight championship to the aforementioned Lewis. Since that time, the former WBC heavyweight champion has gone 2-5-1; including being manhandled in his most recent fight against Larry Donald this past November.
At 42 years of age, Holyfield is too old to continue fighting. He is being beaten thoroughly by boxers not meeting is historically high standards. Holyfield was once one of the greatest boxers of his era and his bouts with Mike Tyson are legendary (yes, that was Holyfield who had part of his ear bitten off by Tyson). Unfortunately, his foolish pride has blinded him to the fact that he can no longer compete at a high level and the tarnish done to his legacy is as sad as it is irreparable.
Mike Tyson. I could write a book about Tyson but we’ll keep this description of his career short. The troubled boxer continues to fight, and not just in the ring, despite being well past his prime. Tyson’s most recent venture has been a return tour for what else? Money. The man who made more money than any other boxer in history had declared bankruptcy and needed money. In his most recent fight, July 31, 2004, Tyson was knocked out in the fourth round by unheralded Danny Williams, ending his comeback tour.
Both of these men once enjoyed life at the top of their sport. But pride and greed have made them continue to fight, despite being nothing more than a shadow of their former selves. This is as embarrassing for boxing enthusiast as it is for Holyfield and Tyson.
But there are other reasons to quit while you are on top. The great Cassius Clay, or Muhammad Ali as most know him, is now a mere fraction of what he used to be. Once a great athlete with cat-like reflexes, a thunderous punch and a more braggadocios personality that Terrell Owens, Ali now slowly moves through life fighting the tremors that have taken over his body with the onset of Parkinson’s syndrome. The disease is apparently caused by his days in the ring.
Lewis has avoided temptation in turning down a comeback bid, despite several people questioning the validity of his final championship. He has risen above the pride and greed surrounding his sport to leave on top, something only American’s Gene Tenney and Rocky Marciano have also done. He has avoided putting any more unnecessary strain on his body, something that may just change his life down the road.
Thank you Lennox Lewis, you may be far from perfect, but you stand above your sport as a beacon of wisdom and hope. Something hard to find in boxing and in life, but appreciated by all.
