LIFE’S a beach for Lennox Lewis as he prepares for his 60th birthday celebrations.
And the British boxing legend will have no regrets as he suns it up in retirement, telling SunSport: “You have to leave people wanting more — and I listened.”
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His heavyweight career spanned 15 years as a three-time world champion.
Lewis was undisputed world champion in 1999, securing his place as one of the greatest of all time.
In fact, the 1988 Olympic gold winner was the last undisputed heavyweight emperor until Ukraine genius Oleksandr Usyk cleaned up the division.
And he is a mainstay in any list of Britain’s finest ever fighters, with 42 wins, just two losses and one draw.
The West Ham hero ruled the world in a golden era, racking up epic wins over Evander Holyfield, Frank Bruno, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko.
And he can judge our current crop of giants like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, because they have all tried and failed to follow in his precise footsteps.
He blows out 60 candles tomorrow and joked: “The next 60 years I will be on the beach chilling.”
The icon, who retired in 2004 at the age of 38, said: “I’m really happy when I look back at my career. You have to leave people wanting more, and I listened.
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“I have never had to do anything I didn’t want to do to get paid or stay relevant.
“I hope fight fans remember me as one of the best. I am glad I am on that list as one of the best.
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“A lot of heavyweights, including British ones, have tried or are trying to achieve what I accomplished and they have come up short.
“But now they know how hard it is to accomplish it.”
Lewis was a polarising figure during his reign.
British fans did not warm to him instantly because he clinched Olympic gold for his adopted home of Canada — Frank Bruno was our darling back then.
So when he suffered shock knockout losses to Oliver McCall in 1994 and Hasim Rahman in 2001, the daggers were out.
But he used the cathartic experience of those losses — before avenging them — to forge a reputation that will stand the test of time.
I’m really happy when I look back at my career. You have to leave people wanting more, and I listened.
Lennos Lewis
Lewis said: “After the defeats I suffered, some of the public did turn their back on me.
“But you realise that the real people stay with you and the bad people, who are not good for you, they leave. It can be cathartic.
“I learned that situation twice and in the second one it was even better because I realised that certain people didn’t believe I could come back and win, so it was good they went.”
The rivalry with Bruno still rumbles. The former WBC world champion has never forgiven Lewis for labelling him an “Uncle Tom” — a derogatory term for black men — at the height of their feud and is a tough topic for Bruno to address, given their shared Jamaican heritage.
But the pair have reconciled and shared stages and documentaries — the bad blood they shared is now cooling.
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Lewis said: “Frank tried to avoid me for as long as he could, because the changing of the guard was coming, and he knew it. But Frank took it badly.
“I never looked at it like that. When one man is at the top and everyone thinks he’s lovely… he thought I was stepping his space and grabbing his fans. I was just there to take my chance to be world heavyweight champion. Frank Bruno was not willing to give me that chance.
“Frank came over and saw me in Jamaica in 2022 and he was still holding a bit of a grudge because of what happened between us but I think he has gotten over it — to a point.
“And that’s great because a lot of boxers deal with mental health issues and it’s good when you can meet in person and see that people have moved on, or you realise it was never that bad.”
For all of Lewis’s achievements, it’s a shock to learn that one of the most important for him came down to his hair cut.
Frank came over and saw me in Jamaica in 2022 and he was still holding a bit of a grudge because of what happened between us but I think he has gotten over it — to a point.
Lennox Lewis
He told us: “I always wanted to be the first heavyweight world champion with dreadlocks, that was a real thing for me.
“Me and Shannon Briggs had a bet and then a fight.
“And the bet was; whoever loses has to cut off their dreads.
“Shannon lost but never cut his dreads. I studied and checked and saw that no heavyweight world champion had ever had dreads.
“I am a person who loves to break rules and records and that was one for me.”
The rebel always had a cause, though.
Mum Violet, who passed away in 2023 aged 85, was his muse and motivation.
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And Lewis remains the proudest ‘mummy’s boy’ imaginable.
He said: “When I first started boxing, my mum was worried about it. Then I started travelling and winning and not getting in trouble, she loved it and wanted to be part of it.
“She came along for the ride, cooking meals or washing clothes, everything to just make sure I was alright.
“She told me that was going to be her part to play and I thanked her and then she lived up to it.
“I remember buying the first house for her. I told her that I remembered when we lived in a two-bed room flat and now I could give her a two-acre house to look after.
“She had window cleaners and gardeners and housekeepers, everything to keep that house perfect.”
