The story behind the Anthony Joshua vs Lennox Lewis argument which exploded into public feud after A
Anthony Joshua and Lennox Lewis stand as two of the greatest heavyweights the UK has ever produced.
Lewis retired in 2004 as a three-time world champion and is, to this day, the last undisputed champion at heavyweight.


AJ is a two-time, unified world champion, currently holding three of the four major world titles and set to defend them against Oleksandr Usyk on September 25.
Their relationship started out positively as Joshua won Olympic gold at London 2012, emulating Lewis' 1988 achievement in Seoul.
The legend was ringside to watch AJ win his final and congratulated him afterwards as they posed for pictures together.
While he prepared to turn professional, Joshua took a year out from competing and spoke to a number of different people who wanted to work with him, surveying his many options.

In this time, he seemed to be getting closer to Lewis and the pair appeared together on Sky boxing show Ringside, plus a Gloves Are Off programme which included Tyson Fury.
Joshua even revealed years later: "I went to Jamaica to see Lewis when I first wanted to turn professional.
“He had plans for what he wanted to with myself and I don’t think they worked out with what I wanted to do so I kind of didn’t go down that route."
This is where things first started to go slightly sour.
Lewis recalled on the Undefeated Podcast: “He turned pro and he was saying I was his favourite boxer. I said, ‘Come out to Jamaica and we’ll talk.’
“We talked about my career and he loved listening to the stories and all the different things that I went through.
“I said, ‘I’d love to help you,’ I don’t want to be his promoter, I’m not a promoter, but there’s things I can teach him.
“He phoned me, he said, ‘I really want you to help me.’ I said, ‘Okay, good.’
“Then I didn’t hear from him again. I heard that he picked some other people to help him, he was doing his professional career and that was it."

The next time they crossed paths publicly was when Lewis attended Joshua's Wembley triumph over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.
There was another moment that didn't sit well with the former undisputed champion.
He explained: “Me and Evander Holyfield were there actually for German TV when he boxed Klitschko.
“We were outside the dressing room [after the fight]. We wanted to big him up as first champion after the Olympics. Now he’s beat the big man, we’re there to congratulate him.

“Security brushed us out of the way and brushed him in there. He was like, 'Len–' and gone. They pushed him in.
“I said, ‘Okay, cool. They don’t want me around. They don’t want me near to him.’ The promoter [Eddie Hearn] definitely the promoter, no doubt about that.
“You allow your promoter to do that to the last undisputed, to me and Holyfield, and we’re there to big him up.
“You’ve showed me your position, I’m not gonna be running after a person if I know their position.”

The following year, Lewis was hoping - like most boxing fans - to see a new undisputed heavyweight champion crowned.
Talks for the ultimate unification between AJ and Deontay Wilder collapsed though, leading to Wilder signing a bout with Fury instead.
Lewis did not hold back on Hearn and AJ as he told BoxingScene: “He wants to go around making money.
"I think that’s going to be a downfall for him. He has to stay with it, he can’t be in the background.
“If he wants to be champion, he has to act like a champion.”

This comment went without retaliation from Joshua, but the situation spilled over following his defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr the following year.
Lewis reacted by suggesting that AJ should change trainer and sack long-time coach Rob McCracken.
He tweeted: "Too many things went wrong in that fight to say he was properly prepared for Ruiz or the situation he found himself in.
"AJ found himself asking questions with no answers. They couldn’t make the adjustments...
"I say you can’t go to university with your third-grade teacher.
“They won’t have the answers you need at that level. You need a professor by then.”


AJ waited a couple of months and fired back in a Sky interview: “Lennox is a clown. I don’t respect Lennox.
“Me and Lennox are not the same.
"My legacy is to sit back and enjoy the younger generation coming up, and not to be involved.
“Just to appreciate what it takes to get there. Lennox isn’t like that. Me and Lennox are cut from a different cloth.”
Lewis took to Twitter to reply: “Wow! He’s right! We ARE cut from a different cloth.
“Undisputed wasn’t something I 'worried' about. It was something I went after until it was accomplished!
“Disappointed in AJ’s words but I understand that this 'jealousy' narrative was only fabricated AFTER I criticised them for Wilder negotiations. All of a sudden I’m a hater.
"Ask who benefits from such a simple-minded narrative? Not AJ. Not me."

Lewis' words did not win Joshua over and later that day he took to Instagram and doubled down.
AJ posted: “Always say it how it is. A clown is a clown. He can wipe his make-up off, but his heart remains the same.
“No squares in my circle, cuz. G s*** only.”
The next day, Lewis tweeted: "I don’t blame AJ as much as I blame the people around him that stoke the fires.
"I have remained at an arms distance from AJ to respect that he wants to make his own way.

"I’m sure he also gets sick of the constant comparisons to me over his entire career.
"He is the first AJ, not the next Lennox Lewis. Like I said, I won’t fall into that trap and be pitted against him.
"He has a watershed moment in his career coming up [Ruiz Jr rematch] and all this only serves as a distraction by the media. Notice how they only led with his comments about me?
"AJ has my number if he ever wants to clarify what is being said in the media or show me where I’m wrong about something.
"My doors remain open to him, but just know that disrespect is not answer to his frustrations."

A month later, AJ reflected on the situation: "Lewis has never reached out...
“The only times I’ve ever heard of Lewis making contact is via the internet.
“Who does take time to call me, and is not so much involved in the internet stuff, is Wladimir Klitschko.
"Calls me, advises me. He’s not doing it for the clout. He just calls me man-to-man.
“I just feel like, when it comes to me, it’s kind of different, ‘Anthony’s dodging, Anthony Joshua’s not this, he needs to do that.’

“Why are you always attacking me, rather than reaching out like Klitschko and giving a young man advice when I need it?
“I’m not two-faced. You poke me, you poke me, sooner or later you’re gonna hear what I have to say about you.”
Lewis again replied on Twitter: "If [Muhammad] Ali, [George] Foreman, or [Larry] Holmes gave you their personal cell number, would you lose it?
“Okay, sometimes things happen, but would you lose it twice?”
When asked if AJ was lying, Lewis concluded: “I’m not calling him a liar, but he is most definitely wrong.”

Three months passed with no further jibes between the pair.
AJ returned to training, with Rob McCracken by his side, and comprehensively outboxed Ruiz Jr in their rematch to regain his titles.
He then came in for criticism as some accused him of 'running' in the contest, but this time Lewis unexpectedly came to his defence.
The legend said: “Every fight isn’t going to be a KO.
“I thought AJ fought a good tactical fight and didn’t fall into trap of trying to mix it up in exchanges.
“This was a good addition to his experience. He also wisely unpacked his jab for this one…

“Think because boxing is a blood sport that’s just what some people want. If they don’t get it, they get bored.
“It’s understandable, but not many fighters who approach the sweet science come out unscathed with this philosophy. Each opponent is his/her own puzzle to solve…
“I understand that people want blood, but, as a fighter, you have to be disciplined enough to wait for the opportunities to open up.
“Sometimes they don’t come. When that happens you play it safe and stick to game plan.”
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With these comments coming at the end of 2019, it appeared as though the public feud between the pair was over.
It has not reignited since.
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