November
16
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Lennox: The Untold Story (15)
Lennox: The Untold Story (15)
Director: Rick Lazes, Seth Koch
Runtime: 96 minutes
Cast: Lennox Lewis, Dr Dre, Mike Tyson, Kellie Maloney, Emanuel Steward, Jim Lampley, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman
Synopsis: LENNOX: THE UNTOLD STORY is the official Lennox Lewis documentary chronicling an incredible life and sporting career. The film gives unprecedented insight into Lewis journey from a troubled youth in West Ham, to uprooting to Canada and discovering a natural ability in the boxing ring before going on to fulfil his destiny by reaching the top of heavyweight boxing.
URL: https://youtu.be/XqJPliEUCzA
Directors Seth Koch, Rick Lazes chronicle how Lennox Lewis rose from humble beginnings in London to become the greatest undisputed heavyweight champion of the modern era in a documentary narrated by Lewis’ friend, and legendary hip-hop artist and producer, Dr Dre. The film features unseen archive footage and interviews with Lewis, his family, closest friends, colleagues and boxing adversaries including Mike Tyson, Kellie Maloney, Emanuel Steward, Jim Lampley, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman.
We get a ringside seat for the story of the rise of the champ, covering Lewis’ life and impressive achievements in his amateur, Olympic and pro career. The film gives unprecedented insight into Lewis’s journey from a troubled youth in West Ham, to uprooting to Canada and discovering a natural ability in the boxing ring, before going on to fulfil his destiny by reaching the top of the heavyweight boxing world.
He was born in London, raised in Canada, won an Olympic gold medal, then entered a professional career during which he ended the US dominance on the various world heavyweight titles which, with very brief interruptions, had stretched back to the 1930s.
Lewis faced defeats by Evander Holyfield – but triumphed in an epic confrontation with Tyson in 2002 in which Lewis hit his professional high point.
Apart from Lewis’s career it is interesting to hear Americans talk about a “tea-drinker” taking the belt, and the frequent mentions of Bob Fitzsimmons, the last Brit to hold the title, in the 1890s.
Notably, Kellie Maloney, Lewis’s former manager, thanks him for positively receiving her coming out as trans. One of this film’s co-directors, Rick Lazes, is working on another documentary, The Kellie Maloney Story (2021).
The world of boxing is dominated by loud, colourful, boastful personalities, like Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson and, of course, Muhammad Ali, who all became as famous for their personalities as for their pugilism.
By contrast Lewis plays chess, thinks deeply and walks to the ring to the strains of Bob Marley. He is – as narrator – Dr Dre puts it, “mysteriously different”.
Lennox is clearly a smart man with a story that is compelling. Fight enthusiasts will doubtlessly enjoy the access to Lewis’s inner circle, including his mother, coaches, manager and “the Lion”, his nickname for himself. He has won against all of the great fighters of his era, including Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno, Tommy Morrison and Vitali Klitschko.
Streaming on: Amazon, Apple, Google and Sky
Images courtesy of Altitude
