BOXING Heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis retires still holding the title

Not since Rocky Marciano has a heavyweight champ gone out on top.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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 the only two men who beat him in rematches and was a three-time heavyweight champion. He ushered in a new era of big heavyweights that changed the sport and made him rich.
His greatest accomplishment, though, may be in knowing when to walk away -- something few of his predecessors could do.
"I didn't want to be known as a boxer all my life," Lewis said. "There's other things I can do that are positive. This is the end of one era, let a new era begin."
Left millions on table
The first British fighter to win the heavyweight title in more than a century, Lewis left millions of dollars on the table rather than fight a rematch with Vitali Klitschko. He was still undecided until about two weeks ago, when he decided it was time to retire at the age of 38.
Not since Rocky Marciano quit with the title nearly a half century ago has a heavyweight champion gone out on top -- and stayed out.
Unlike Muhammad Ali's retirement in 1978, though, Lewis vowed that his decision is final.
"I was thinking about it for a long time. Should I go back in and have one more fight?" he said. "But I realized this is the drug of the sport. There is always one more fight and somebody to fight. I didn't want to get caught up in it, and I thought that this is the time when I should gracefully bow out."
By doing so, Lewis leaves a huge opening in the heavyweight division, which has been paralyzed in recent years as Lewis fought only infrequently to defend his WBC title.
"I think it might reinvigorate the sport a bit," said Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports. "In many ways the heavyweight champion rules the sport, and now there are some intriguing options out there."
Next in line
Klitschko, the giant Ukrainian who was getting the best of Lewis before being stopped on cuts last June in Los Angeles, may be the most intriguing of all. The WBC had ordered Lewis to fight Klitschko again if he was going to keep fighting, and now it is likely that Klitschko and No. 2 challenger Corrie Sanders will meet for the vacant title.
Roy Jones Jr. appears ready to move back to light heavyweight, leaving rugged John Ruiz with that title while IBF champion Chris Byrd is also in the mix. Byrd beat Klitschko in 2000 when Klitschko retired after the ninth round with a shoulder injury.
"It makes matches. Now we won't have to wait on the decision of Lennox Lewis or Roy Jones for that matter," Byrd said. "Now we can start actually fighting."
Lewis fought only twice in the last 26 months, and it seemed against Klitschko that his heart hadn't been into training. Lewis first said he would give Klitschko a December rematch, but then said he wasn't sure if he would continue fighting at all.
"Some fighters box until they lose and that's their mark for retirement," Lewis said. "You've got boxers today who should definitely retire. I didn't want the big shine to go dull for me."