Wladimir Klitschko and Lennox Lewis at Odds Olympics!
Former world heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko are on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the issue of professional fighters competing in the Olympic Games. Further, both fighters chose to make their differences known on social media!
On October 9, Lewis took to Twitter to give his personal take on the issue. The former unified heavyweight champion made clear that he is no fan of pro boxers fighting in the Olympics. He would cite safety concerns for amateurs fighting against the pros.
Former heavyweight titlist Wladimir Klitschko apparently took issue with Lewis’ position. He responded to Lewis’ tweet by calling his opinion “nonsense”. He argued that it’s the professionals, not the amateur boxers, that are at a disadvantage.
Klitschko also made sure to mention that the professional boxers who participated in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games lost their amateur bouts. Klitschko didn’t specifically mention the names of the pro boxers who competed in the Rio Olympics. For those curious, the fighters he was referring to were former IBF Flyweight champion Amnat Ruenrong and former WBA Middleweight Champion Hassan N’Dam.
Lewis responded by asking the man known as “Dr. Steelhammer” during his fighting day if he would have been equipped to fight pro fighters during his amateur day?
The issue of professionals fighting in Olympics once again became a topic of discussion when WBC president Mauricio Suliaman released a statement on October 8 opposing the notion of professionals competing in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His statement was in response to the Mexican Boxing Federation and the National Boxing Commission (Conabox) inviting world titleholders to compete for the qualifying process for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
It’s interesting that Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitscho are on opposite ends of this issue. Furthermore it’s eye-opening that both would decide to go back and forth with each other on social media. For Klitschko, a man who loves to keep things on the cool, to be so strong in his opposition to Lewis is a turn from the norm. This is a controversial topic that has spawned some surprising and uncommon responses.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
