Lennox comes under fire

The man who helped to establish Lennox Lewis as a professional boxer today condemned the world champion's decision to relinquish one of his heavyweight titles.

Thirteen years ago, acting on advice from leading British boxing photographer Lawrence Lustig, American lawyer John Hornewer steered newly-crowned Olympic champion Lewis in the direction of British boxing manager Frank Maloney.

The partnership with Maloney was highly successful and it climaxed in 1999 when London-born Lewis became the first British fighter in over a century to unify the heavyweight division.

He did it by beating Evander Holyfield in a rematch of a controversial draw to claim the belts belonging to the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Association and the International Boxing Federation.

Boxing politics subsequently saw Lewis stripped of the WBA title. And only three months after a career-defining victory over Mike Tyson, he has decided to give up the IBF crown rather than defend it against Chris Byrd, an American southpaw he regards as offering "no competitive challenge".

Byrd, coincidentally, is now represented by Hornewer, who is disgusted by Lewis's behaviour. He said: "It just goes to show that when you beat The Man (Tyson), you do not necessarily become The Man.

"Truthfully, we believe Chris Byrd posed unique challenges to the style of Lennox Lewis."

Hornewer, who had an acrimonious split with Lewis, added: "Now that he has taken himself out of the picture we will turn our sights to a true champion, Evander Holyfield, who many observers believe bested Lewis in their last fight."

Holyfield and Byrd, both promoted by Don King, are already set to contend the vacant IBF championship, possibly in Las Vegas on 14 December.

Lewis has yet to officially confirm that, at the age of 37, he will fight on. But his American television backers, HBO, are keeping 7 December free for a WBC title defence against 26-year-old Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko.

If, as expected, he wins that clash, Lewis would then go on to a lucrative rematch with Tyson before signing for a summer showdown with Vitali's brother, Wladimir, who most observers regard as the best of the new generation of heavyweights.

Explaining his decision to return the IBF championship, Lewis said: "My team and I had already determined that there was no public interest in a Lennox Lewis-Chris Byrd bout.

"The fact is that the champion makes the belt important, not the other way around."