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Actor Will Smith and former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis will be among the eight pallbearers at Muhammad Ali’s memorial service Friday in Louisville, Ky. The legendary boxer died June 3 following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Other pallbearers at the service will include Jerry Ellis — brother of the late Jimmy Ellis, who was Ali’s former sparring partner and former world heavyweight champion — and several relatives and close friends. Smith received an Oscar nomination for playing the title role in the 2001 movie “Ali.”

Lewis knew how to fight, and when to quit By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Boxing Writer February 6, 2004 Lennox Lewis knew how to fight, and when to quit. Now he can only hope that history will be kinder than the critics who never appreciated his reign as heavyweight champion of the world. Lewis announced his retirement Friday, ending a 14-year career that was brilliant at times, and puzzling at others. He walked away at the top, his heavyweight belt still securely around his waist and his new fiancee, Violet, at his side. Lewis beat Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, defeated...

CHAMP HANGS UP HIS GLOVES Britain's world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has announced his retirement from boxing. The 38-year-old is only the third heavyweight after Americans Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano to quit while holding the title. He has bowed out seven months after his last fight - a sixth round stoppage of Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko to retain the WBC title. "It's not easy being heavyweight champion of the world. In fact it is very hard to achieve," Lewis told a press conference. "It is even harder to keep and stay at the top. I am a person that believes...

Tyson to Lewis: Stay away from King By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Boxing Writer February 28, 2003 LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis won't fight right away. When they do, Tyson doesn't want Don King in the way. Tyson issued a statement Friday warning Lewis to stay away from King if he wants another bout with the former heavyweight champion. ``Lennox and I don't need Don King to conduct our business,'' Tyson said. The unusual statement from Tyson came as Lewis was in Las Vegas for Saturday's fight between Roy Jones Jr. and John Ruiz. King is promoting...

Mike Tyson may be washed up as a world class boxer, but he still has a hard head.When champ Lennox Lewis was shaking hands at Tao Tuesday night, he extended his meaty left paw, explaining he broke his right on Iron Mike's melon in the first round last Saturday.As everyone knows, Lewis completely dominated Tyson, and left him bleeding and flat on his back in the eighth.Lewis celebrated his devastating KO at Tao with 10 pals and bottles of Cristal, and sampled a congratulatory cake from the kitchen.

Lewis Crushes Tyson to Retain Heavyweight TitleSun Jun 9,12:56 AM ET MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Reuters) - Lennox Lewis pummeled Mike Tyson to defeat in the eighth round on Saturday to retain his world heavyweight title after an emphatic display. Photos Reuters Photo The British boxer knocked an increasingly dispirited Tyson down twice in the round to end the fight after cutting him around both eyes. The first knockdown was a left uppercut that staggered Tyson and left him almost defenseless. The second -- a right to the jaw -- left Tyson, also bleeding from his nose, motionless on his back on...

Fifty-four-ninety-five. That's the current market price for sleaze. For $54.95, the eager entrepreneurs will feed into your TV set the closest thing sports has these days to pornography. Mike Tyson. Sometime around midnight Saturday, maybe on the dark side of Sunday, Tyson will fight for the heavyweight championship of the world, and it will be on pay-per-view. His credentials for deserving such a lavish profitable opportunity: exactly 19 rounds of professional fistfights in the last five years. But of course, that ludicrously rare amount of actual competition is not the real reason, not the real qualification. The real qualification is...