Lennox Lewis vs Tyrell Biggs 23.11.1991

For the first time since George Foreman vs Joe Frazier in 1973, 2 Olympic gold medal heavyweight boxers face off against each other as professionals. The professional rematch between Lennox Lewis and Tyrell Biggs. More info below...

The rivalry between Lewis and Biggs stems back to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. In the quarter finals of the super heavyweight tournament that year, Lewis would lose a decision to eventual gold medal winner, Tyrell Biggs. Biggs turned pro shortly after his Olympic success however Lewis would continue as an amateur for another 4 years until he eventually won his gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Tyrell Biggs had an excellent amateur career and a lot of promise as a professional however personal issues and drug abuse problems would prevent him from being anything more than a contender. He entered this fight with a 19-4 record. In 1987 he fought Mike Tyson for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, starting strongly but ultimately losing by 7th round TKO. Biggs was never quite able to recover from this defeat and went on to lose 3 fights in a row. In 1989/1990 it appeared Biggs might be getting back on track after he picked up wins against the tough but limited Bobby Crabtree and former WBA World Cruiser Weight champion, Ossie Ocasio. Before his fight with Lewis however, Biggs would suffer yet another set back, losing to future world heavyweight champion, Riddick Bowe.

Lennox Lewis was undefeated at the time with a 17-0 record and held the European, Commonwealth and BBBofC British Heavyweight Titles. In his last outing he had successfully defended his European and BBBofC belts against former IBF World Cruiser Weight champion, Glenn McCrory, by KO.

The fight itself was short and punishing for Tyrell Biggs. Biggs tried to establish his jab but Lewis would not let him and kept Biggs under constant pressure. In round 3 it would be all over, with Lewis knocking Biggs down 3 times in the closing minute. After the first knockdown Biggs showed a bit of fire by getting up and putting everything he had into a huge lunging left hook however Lewis was easily able to avoid it and counter with a chopping overhand right while Biggs was off balance and unable to defend himself.

With this win Lennox Lewis had avenged his amateur defeat to Tyrell Biggs from the 1984 Olympics and in just over 1 year would be crowned the WBC World Heavyweight Champion. Tyrell Biggs would continue boxing for another 7 years picking up wins against mediocre competition that did nothing to improve his ranking. Whenever he came up against somebody with at least some semblance of skill however, he would suffer yet another disappointing loss. For somebody with a 108-6-4 amateur record, a final professional record of 30-10 seems somewhat anticlimactic...