Former world heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and George Foreman are out in Las Vegas for this weekend’s big Canelo vs Jacobs event, plus there’s a ton of other boxing stuff going on in the city, too.
With Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Jr being made official this week for June 1 at Madison Square Garden, the champs gave their thoughts on that matchup when asked.
Lewis, now 53, says he likes the matchup, even if it’s not what was wanted at this time.
“You know what? I think that’s a good fight. Andy has some heavy hands. The experience level, he’s lacking that a little bit, but they need a fight right now and Andy stood up for it,” Lewis said. “It’s not what you want, not what he wanted, but I don’t even know what the plan is with them, so I can’t really comment on it.”
Foreman, now a spry 70, is a big fan of Joshua, but he likes Ruiz, too.
“This Joshua is really some fantastic fighter. He’s an athlete, too. He’s not only big — forget about being big, you can be a giant and you can’t have the kind of talent that Anthony Joshua has,” Foreman said. “It’s gonna be hard to beat him. Ruiz needed to be fighting that style of fighter for the last two years and he hasn’t. He’s gonna give a good fight because he’s not a quitter, and I think the heavyweight division needs such a fight.”
Lewis also got the chance to meet up with former foe Vitali Klitschko at the WBC & Hublot Night of Champions Gala Dinner and Auction:
Competition earns respect. Respect earns friendship.
— Lennox Lewis (@LennoxLewis) May 4, 2019
Friendship earns love.
My brother Vitali.
-@WBCBoxing @hublot Night of Champions pic.twitter.com/rHaOjVfmLa
Klitschko was the opponent for Lewis’ final fight back in 2003, and led on the scorecards after six rounds, 58-56 across the board. But the fight was stopped there due to a nasty cut on Vitali, giving Lewis the TKO-6 win. There was a ton of demand for a rematch, which Lewis said at first that he wanted, but then he retired in early 2004 and never fought again.