Lennox Lewis Part Two: Domestic Bliss
Mason was born in Jamaica on 15th December 1962 and came to Britain as a four-year-old. He started his pro career in October 1984 against Al Malcolm, the same man who faced Lewis on his professional debut. Mason blasted out Malcolm in the first round and his kayo spree lasted until November 1986 when American Oscar Holman took him the full eight-round distance.
Mason continued to bomb out his opponents, including former Mike Tyson victims Sammy Scaff (two rounds), Alfonzo Ratcliff (six rounds), David Jaco (four rounds) and James 'Quick' Tillis (fifth round), equalling Frank Bruno and Evander Holyfield.
With a record of 28-0 and twenty-seven stoppages, Mason was nominated to face Hughroy Currie for the British heavyweight title, vacated by the unbeaten Horace Notice, who had to retire with a detached retina. Currie, also born in Jamaica, plied his trade from Catford, London. He had already lost twice to the retired Notice in April 1986 for the British and Commonwealth crown and in March 1988, losing in the sixth and tenth respectively. A second points win over Noel Quarless seven months later got him the shot with Mason in January 1989.
The British crown became Mason's property after a fourth-round knockout. After a third-round knockout of Terry Armstrong in March 1989, he made the first defence of his Lonsdale belt with a second-round kayo of Jess Harding that June. Four months later Mason inflicted the third straight defeat on Tyrell Biggs' career. Mason was then extended the full ten-round distance at the end of the year by the American Mark Wills.
In March 1990, Mason dropped the usually durable Everett 'Big Foot' Martin in the opening round. Martin proved to be a tough nut to crack and lasted the ten-round distance. Though Mason won, it looked like his career was in jeopardy, as not long after he was diagnosed with a detached retina. After corrective surgery, Mason was cleared to continue his career by the British Boxing Board of Control and his brief retirement was put to bed with a ninth-round stoppage of James Pritchard at the end of 1990.
Mason versus Lewis was now on and the British champion, with his impressive resume of 35-0 (32 KO's) had gotten him a world ranking of five. Adding the EBU crown to his Lonsdale belt would put him in good stead to face current undisputed heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield. Lewis though had his own agenda and a victory over his first world-rated opponent would bring him a step closer to his dream of adding world honours to his Olympic success.
The bad blood between the two was evident during the buildup. Lewis had been calling Mason "fatty" and "fat head" which really got under the skin of the British champion. "That's a liberty and I'm upset about it! So I'm dying to pay him back...I want to beat him up. This is no hype, believe me. I'm determined."
Mason, weighing in at 235 pounds (106.60KG) came to the ring first and waited in the European champion's corner for Lewis's arrival, showing his taller rival he wasn't scared and he was ready to dish out some physical punishment for the "fat head" jibes. Lewis bounced into the ring and confidently danced to the beat of his ring entrance music right in front of his foe, with Mason joining in the ritual.
The EBU champion was confident, weighing in at 227 pounds (102.97KG) and looked far more athletic than his plodding adversary. Lewis had been criticised up until now about his pawing jab, but against Mason he let fly with a stiff, ramrod, accurate jab, purposely targeting Mason's repaired right eye. Mason's efforts were crude and cumbersome and when he did get in close, Lewis would hold the shorter man's head down with his left, as Muhammad Ali used to do with a shorter opponent, whilst referee Larry O'Connell cautioned him for the tactic.
Mason was getting picked off by the left lead and had to take some right uppercuts as Lewis stood his ground. Both men stared at each other as the bell sounded to finish the opening round. Lewis continued his confident start and was happy to let Mason fire his sloppy, out of range shots and box him off. Mason did land a strong right, bringing a roar from the crowd, as Lewis shook his head in contempt.
Round three had a pivotal bearing on the fight; Lewis' jarring jabs had paid dividends as Mason's right eye began to close. Mason reacted bravely and mounted an all-out assault, as Lewis coped with the barrage and worked behind his jab. The British champion was now in trouble, his European counterpart could withstand his firepower and his right eye was beginning to leak blood. They squared up to each other at the bell and Lewis shoved his man away, with O'Connell going over to Lewis's corner and threatening to throw him out, before visiting Mason's corner to get an update on the injured eye.
Mason pounded after his man and Lewis landed a right late in the fourth which seemed to shake the British champion. Lewis then changed tactics in round five, staying close and matching Mason's artillery, knowing it was only a matter of time before his hand would be raised in victory. Mason faced even more woe in round six as his left eye picked up a cut.
Surprisingly the judges had the contest as a close one. O'Connell had Mason up by a round, whilst Mickey Vann and John Coyle scored it level. Mason was ordered to retire by the Manchester eye consultant who repaired his retina the previous year. Mason heeded the advice, only to have two victories in America in 1994, bolstering his final resume to 37-1 (34 KO's).
In 2011, aged forty-eight, Mason was hit by a van whilst on his bicycle. Over one-thousand mourners attended his funeral, including Lennox Lewis, ex-stablemate Frank Bruno, Lloyd Honeyghan and Michael Watson.
On Friday 12th July 1991 Lennox Lewis travelled to Nevada's Caesars Tahoe Outdoor Arena to face his first former world heavyweight champion, Mike Weaver. Weaver, who excelled at sports in his High School days, was offered a college football scholarship, and elected to join the Marine Corps aged seventeen and took up boxing, representing the military from 1968 to 1971.
Born in Gatesville, Texas, as Michael Dwayne Weaver on 14th June 1951, Weaver's paid career started off slowly with two defeats to Howard Smith in 1971. By July 1974 he had amassed an unremarkable resume of 6-6 with four stoppages. He managed to win eight in a row, losing a challenge to Stan Ward at the start of 1978 for the USA California State heavyweight championship. He also lost his next contest for the vacant NABF title with a unanimous decision to Leroy Jones.
Weaver finally had a belt around his waist when he stopped Bernardo Mercado for the USA California State title in October 1978 and followed up that success three months later with a stoppage win over Stan Ward for the USBA championship.
Weaver's big chance came against WBC heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in June 1979. Holmes improved to 31-0, flooring Weaver in round eleven before stopping his man in the twelfth to make his third successful defence.
In March 1980 Weaver got his second bite at winning the heavyweight championship when he challenged WBA title holder John Tate. The champion was ahead on all three judges' cards going into the fifteenth round. All he had to do was stay out of trouble, but Tate decided to slug it out with Weaver, getting caught with a massive left hook, relieving him of his senses and his heavyweight championship.
Weaver made two successful defences of his belt before losing in the first round to the undefeated Michael Dokes in December 1982. In the rematch five months later he lasted the full fifteen rounds, losing out on regaining the championship with a majority draw. He won his next three to get a chance of winning Pinklon Thomas's WBC title in June 1985. Thomas floored Weaver in the first and again in the eighth on his way to a TKO victory.
Weaver's resume became sporadic, he stopped Carl Williams in the second round, only to suffer a first-round loss to James 'Bonecrusher' Smith and a points defeat to Donovan Ruddock in 1986. He won his next three, including ending the unbeaten run of South Africa's Johnny Du Ploy, losing the rematch by a second-round TKO. Three more victories got him a second match with James Smith for the WBA Americas title. This time Weaver lasted the full twelve rounds, dropping a unanimous decision in April 1990.
Booing started in round four and continued in the fifth as the cagey ex-champ kept his hands high with Lewis working behind the jab, offering little else in his advancing repertoire. Then, Lewis silenced the restless crowd with a slow jab, quickly followed by a long righthand, catching Weaver flush on the jaw and putting him down for the count in the sixth. Though Weaver didn't offer much in an offensive capacity, he did cut Lewis for the first time in his career over the right eye and made his left eye puffy.
Lewis then travelled back to London's Royal Albert Hall to defend his domestic titles against the top EBU contender Glenn McCrory. Born in Annfield Plain, County Durham, on 23rd September 1964, the popular Geordie started his career in February 1984. The heavyweight barely weighed over the then cruiserweight limit of 190 pounds (86.18KG) but that didn't deter him from stopping his 207 pounds (93.89 KG) opponent in the opening round.
McCrory outweighed one of his first thirteen opponents before suffering a fifth-round knockout defeat to John Westgarth in September 1985. A points win to finish the year against Roy Skeldon put him back on winning ways. Though 1986 proved disastrous, losing four in a row to Rudi Pika and the giant Swede and former European heavyweight champion, Anders Ecklund, both by eight-round decision. He then suffered a seventh-round TKO to Dave Garside and a second-round knockout to Hughroy Currie, before stopping the rot in November 1986 with a points win in America to go 15-5 (4 KOs).
McCrory then worked to go down to cruiserweight and went on an unbeaten ten-fight run, winning the cruiserweight Commonwealth title with a points win over Zambia's Chisanda Mutti in September 1987 and added the British championship by outscoring Tee Jay at the start of 1988.
His winning streak got him a shot at the vacant IBF cruiserweight crown, relinquished by Evander Holyfield in his quest for heavyweight honours. Kenyan Patrick Lumumba was in the opposite corner and boasted a record of 8-2 with four kayos. Spurred on by his home fans, McCrory lifted the championship with a twelve-round unanimous decision on 03rd June 1989.
He stopped South African Siza Makathini in the eleventh round four months later and in March 1990 faced his top contender Jeff Lampkin. McCrory was struggling to make the weight and eventually scaled bang on the 190 pounds (86.18 KG) cruiserweight limit. Unfortunately for the champion, a short left hook to the body put the Geordie on all fours, getting counted out by referee Randy Neumann.
McCrory returned to action eleven months later, knocking out Terry Armstrong in the second round in another assault on the heavyweight division, before challenging British and European heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis on 30th September 1991.
Lewis, sensing the challenger's frailties as a heavyweight, dispensed with his usual methodical approach and leapt on his opponent, imposing his size and strength, forcing the smaller man to engage. McCrory had to take some hurtful shots in the opening round and did well to hear the bell still on his feet.
Tyson damaged his ribs during training, rescheduling the bout to 23rd November from Vegas to Atlanta, with Holyfield facing second substitute Bert Cooper, as the original replacement, Francesco Damiani, had an injured ankle. Lewis would be facing his 1984 Olympic conqueror Tyrell Biggs, whose career had taken a downward spiral.
After his Olympic success as a super-heavyweight in Los Angeles, Biggs turned pro in November 1984, amassing an unbeaten run of 15-0 (10 KOs) when he challenged Mike Tyson for the undisputed heavyweight title in October 1987. Tyson was at his brutal best that night, dishing out a systematic seven-round beating.
The promising star was never the same after that, losing in the fifth round in his next contest twelve months later to the unbeaten Italian Francesco Damiani. He then travelled to Great Britain and was stopped in the seventh round by Gary Mason.
Biggs was on a roll of four wins before running in to Riddick Bowe in March 1991, losing by TKO in 
round eight. Biggs needed to resurrect his flailing career and a win over Lewis would be a start in the right direction. Lewis was in no mood to hang around and came out of the blocks quickly, hounding Biggs around the ring.
Lewis continued the onslaught in the second round, working the body as Biggs tried his best to keep up with his advancing foe. A right to the temple in round three put the American on the deck. Biggs had pain etched on his face, but managed to get up at nine. Biggs fired a wild left and Lewis countered with another right, flooring his man again.
Biggs rose at seven, with blood leaking from his mouth, he replied in the positive when asked if he wanted to carry on. Lewis hammered him to the ropes with two straight rights, a left uppercut and another right, putting Biggs down for the third time. The three-knockdown rule wasn't in effect, but referee Frank Santore Jnr had seen enough and waved the finish with 13 seconds remaining of the third.
With his impressive performance, Lewis stayed in America and took on the durable Levi Billups on the 'Night of the Young Heavyweights' show in Las Vegas on 01st February 1992. The bill included Joe Hipp and was topped by Michael Moorer facing the giant Mike White.
Billups started his career with a first-round knockout defeat to Orlin Norris in July 1986. By the time he faced Lewis his ledger read 16-5 (9 KO's), which included defeats against some heavy punchers, notably a third-round loss to Michael Moorer. Billups also got off the floor to score a unanimous decision over ex-WBA heavyweight champion James Smith in his last contest, three months previously.
Lewis put in a lethargic performance, winning pretty much every round with his spearing, dominant jab. With his failings to capitalise on his third-round destruction of Biggs, team Lewis sacked his American trainer John Davenport and elected to go with the higher profile Puerto Rican, Pepe Correa.
Lewis came back to Britain on 30th April 1992, putting his British and European belts on the line against Commonwealth champion Derek Williams. The Royal Albert Hall was the stage and the winner would be the first man to hold all three domestic heavyweight titles since Joe Bugner stopped Richard Dunn in the opening round on 12th October 1976.
Williams had also hired a legendary trainer, getting Angelo Dundee to work with him was a massive coup. The Commonwealth champion had been a pro since October 1984 and won the Commonwealth crown in November 1988, stopping Young Haumona by a fourth-round kayo.
After a loss to Mark Wills, he defended his title and picked up the vacant EBU championship with a first-round TKO of Hughroy Currie. He then had back-to-back losses to Jean-Maurice Chanet, bouncing back with a second-round win against Jimmy Thunder. He won his next two, keeping himself busy for his domestic clash with Lewis.
Then it was the turn of the heavyweights. Lewis came into Bob Marley's Crazy Baldheads and I couldn't stop my legs from shaking with anticipation and excitement, plus I really needed to find a copy of that song (years later I bought Natural Mystic).
Lewis didn't do much in the way of boxing, looking to take Williams out, whilst the Commonwealth champion looked to spoil and catch his man with a big right. It wasn't until the third round when Lewis cracked his man with a right. The acoustics of the Albert Hall were so good that the sound of the punch echoed around the arena. Moments later, Lewis connected with a right and left uppercut, ending the combination with a straight right.
Williams hit the deck. Although he rose just before the end of the count, Larry O'Connell called it off and Lewis became the first man to stop him. Lewis also became an outright winner of the Lonsdale belt and a triple domestic champion. The crowd couldn't resist chanting "Bruno! Bruno!" who won his second fight since losing to Mike Tyson in 1989 only eight days previously, hoping to get the two British giants into the ring.
Lewis, now ranked number two by the World Boxing Council was then nominated to face number one WBC heavyweight contender Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock on 31st October 1992. However, the Lewis camp felt being six months out of the ring was too long and decided to take on Mike Dixon on 11th August that year.
Dixon started his paid career in October 1989 and was considered nothing more than a tune-up fight for the fearsome Ruddock. Dixon had a record of 10-5, stopping all of his victims. He had never been stopped himself but was on a four-fight losing streak, taking Lawrence Carter, Alexander Popov, Corrie Sanders and Bruce Seldon the distance. Lewis, as predicted, had no trouble with the American, stopping his opponent in the fourth round, paving the way for his most difficult assignment to date.
Though Ruddock's amateur career never reached the dizzy heights of Lewis's, he did hold a 3-2 decision over the future Olympic champion at the 1980 Ontario Canada Junior Championships in the middleweight class. Ruddock took off his vest in March 1982, amassing a record of 9-0-1 with four stoppages before losing to David Jaco in April 1985. The Canadian blamed his seventh-round stoppage defeat on an asthma attack.
Four fights later he faced his first ex-world champion, Mike Weaver, outscoring the former WBA title holder over ten rounds. The stoppages came thick and fast, recovering from a second-round knockdown to stop another former WBA champion James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in round seven.
In his next contest, Ruddock was facing another former world champion, Michael Dokes. Dokes had a fantastic record of 41-2-2 (27 KOs), only losing to Gerrie Coetzee and Evander Holyfield in 1983 and 1989 respectively. Dokes had also picked up the vacant WBA Intercontinental heavyweight crown in November 1989 and was making his third defence against Ruddock.
The fight took place at Madison Square Garden on 04th April 1990 and the Canadian grasped the opportunity with both hands, notably his left hook-come-uppercut, nailing it on Dokes's jaw in the fourth. His stunning left hand, which he called "the smash" brought Ruddock to centre stage in the heavyweight division.
Ruddock, unlike most of Tyson's previous opponents, showed no fear, looking to land his "smash" in the opening seconds of the contest, only just missing the target. Both men fired in some good punches in the opening round, but it was Tyson who landed a left hook, flooring Ruddock in the second. The Canadian was hard-done-by, as replays showed he was more off-balance than being hit flush.
Both men had successes in the third until late in the round Tyson scored a knockdown with another left hook. They both got back to landing bombs in the fourth, with Ruddock landing a left in the sixth to perforate Tyson's eardrum. The bout ended controversially in the next round, as Tyson wobbled Ruddock to the ropes and looked to unload his concussive power, Richard Steele stopped the advancing American and waved the finish.
As Ruddock crashed into the ropes and suddenly realised the fight was over, he exclaimed "What?" Steele would later defend the premature stoppage by saying, "We're in the boxing business, not the killing business."
However, an immediate rematch took place on 28th June. The fight was littered with bombs, fouls and points deductions with Tyson flooring Ruddock in rounds two and four. After twelve rounds of savagery, Tyson won a unanimous decision, breaking the Canadian's jaw in the process.
Ruddock returned to the ring in February 1992, stopping Greg Page in eight and knocking out Phil Jackson in the fourth round four months later before facing Lewis to determine the WBC's mandatory contender position and the heavyweight title of the Commonwealth.
Lewis versus Ruddock took place at London's Earls Court Exhibition Hall, with the Jamaican-born Ruddock coming in a two-to-one favourite with the bookies. With Ruddock withstanding nineteen rounds with Mike Tyson and getting off the canvas to kayo ex-world champions, many questions still circled around Lewis, notably his ability to take a serious punch from a world-class heavyweight.
Lewis entered the ring with the crowd well and truly behind him and he seemed the calmest man in the 
arena. Ruddock came in like a coiled spring, ready to unwind and get the fight over with as soon as possible. When they came together to receive their instructions from Joe Cortez, Ruddock was trying to get inside his opponent's head by talking to him.
Lewis circled the ring, keeping his right hand high, using his jab and moving to his left to take the sting out of any left hook Ruddock had to offer. The Canadian didn't offer much offensively, only to look to land his lethal left on Lewis' untested whiskers. Then, with the first round coming to a close, Ruddock lazily snaked out a left lead to Lewis's midsection. As he did this, Lewis countered with a solid right to Ruddock's unprotected head, cutting his legs from beneath him. The Canadian got up on unsteady legs, with the bell sounding to give him 60 seconds to recover, regroup and turn the fight in his direction.
Fortunately for Lewis, it wasn't long enough for Ruddock to recover and Lewis had him on the canvas again. Ruddock got up at three and looked to fire in some desperate uppercuts. Lewis wasn't to be denied and caught his man again with a jab, right hand and a flush straight left, putting the danger man down for the final time with 46 seconds on the clock.
Lewis was now the WBC's top contender and looked forward to facing the winner of Evander Holyfield's 13th November fight with Riddick Bowe, with the challenger signing an agreement with the WBC to face Lewis next if he dethroned champion, Holyfield...
All the best fight fans
Lea
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