The last undisputed heavyweight champion of the three-belt era, Lennox Lewis, has once more opted to criticize Anthony Joshua for fighting Francis Ngannou and chalked their fight off as a “spectacle”. Ironically, Lewis was present to commentate on the Fury-Ngannou card and did not offer any notable criticism towards Fury fighting Ngannou before his latest set of statements.
While Lennox Lewis might not believe his internal bias against certain fighters, the proof can be witnessed by his own actions over the past several years, as well as recent statements he made. Particularly, Lewis’ assertion that Otto Wallin (26-2, 14 KO’s) was not well-prepared to face Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KO’s) on December 23rd contrasted what Lewis said about Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO’s) when he faced a 333 lbs overweight Jarrell Miller (26-1, 22 KO’s) on the same night.
Wallin later came out in an interview stating he had prepared properly for Joshua and felt confident of beating him, while Miller’s statements following his loss to Dubois clearly suggested he was not thoroughly prepared. Lewis’ stance, however, revolved around praising Dubois for beating an ill-prepared opponent while he gave little to no credit to Joshua for defeating a well-prepared and assertive heavyweight contender in Otto Wallin.
On January 15th, Lennox Lewis downplayed both Tyson Fury’s (34-0-1, 24 KO’s) and Anthony Joshua’s fights with Francis Ngannou (0-1, 0 KO’s).
“Ngannou’s fight with Tyson Fury was a spectacle. This fight with AJ is also a spectacle. Hats off to Ngannou for making the most of his opportunities. He’s done nothing wrong. This is just the heavyweight division in the year 2024.” Lewis said through his Twitter account.
Notably, Lewis made no such reference towards Fury’s fight against Ngannou being a spectacle of any sort prior to the announcement of Joshua-Ngannou (set to be held on March 8); which can be attributed to his role in commentating for the Fury-Ngannou fight on TNT Sports.
Hypocrisy not withstanding, Lewis continued to criticize Joshua by claiming it would do nothing for his resume:
“In my opinion, this fight adds ZERO credibility to AJ’s [Anthony Joshua] resume,” Lewis continued.
“He’s SUPPOSED to win this fight and when he does, what does he gain or learn by beating someone in his second HW fight? If he loses, than it’s an absolute disaster. The same stood for Fury and it almost cost him everything.“
Lennox Lewis’ criticism of Joshua’s fight with Ngannou would appear fair, given Ngannou has no real experience in boxing and has only fought once prior. However, not only does Lewis’ criticism come a bit too late given it was absent when Fury―as the WBC heavyweight champion (though the title was not on the line)―fought Ngannou, the aftermath of the very first match between the two aforementioned heavyweights saw Ngannou’s standing in the sport change rapidly.
As of now, Francis Ngannou has been officially ranked by the WBC and BoxRec, and his performance against Fury was notable enough that there were arguments that he had actually won. Though Ngannou’s rise in standing in the boxing world comes by surprise, there has undoubtedly been a shift in heavyweight boxing that has changed the outlook of Francis Ngannou in a competitive sense.
Furthermore, when Ngannou was set to face Fury in his professional boxing debut, Lewis appeared radio silent on the implications of an active heavyweight champion in Tyson Fury facing a boxing novice in Francis Ngannou, unlike his most recent statements surrounding Joshua.
Lewis’ claim of the March 8 Joshua-Ngannou fight having zero credibility was debunked during the same press conference that announced the fight as Turki Al-Sheikh―one of the main catalysts of organizing several pivotal fights in Saudi Arabia including the aforemntioned―stated his intentions to see the winner of March 8 face the victor of the upcoming February 17 bout between Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KO’s) and Tyson Fury.
In response to Lewis, Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn also mentioned Al-Sheikh’s wishes to grant the winner of Joshua-Ngannou a chance against the future undisputed heavyweight champion:
“Listen in to yesterday. The winner fights the winner of Fury v Usyk for Undisputed and when AJ joins your club, I know you will be delighted for him.” Hearn responded through a Tweet.
